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RISE AND FALL 



or 


i 


THE IRISH NATION. 



B T 


SIR JONAH BARRINGTON, IL. D. K. C. 


Member in the late Irish Parliament for the Cities of Tuam and Clog her. 



The nations have fallen, and thou still art young, 


Thy sun is but rising, when others are set; 

And, though slavery’s cloud o’er thy morning hath hung, 
The full noon of freedom shall beam round them yet. 
Eriu! oh Erin, though long in the shade, 

Thy star will shine out when the proudest shall fade. 


Moore 



TWELFTH THOTJS. 


NEW YORK: --" 

1>. & J. SADLIER & CO., 31 BARCLAY STRBET. 


MONTREAL, C. 8.:—COB. OF NOTRE T>AME St ST. JRANUS XAVIER STS. 


J 



V 










Copyright, 

D. & J. SADLIER & CO. 

18 8f. 

4* * 




























THE BARON PLUNKET 


LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND 


My dear Lord, 

Even whilst the twilight of h'fe is rapidly descending 
into that mysterious night, by which the whole human 
race must inevitably be enveloped, there yet remains one 
gratification, which, whilst intellect survives, age caimo 
deprive us of, the recollection of past pleasures. 

To me none afford more happy recollections than the 
splendid days of my variegated life, spent in the society 
of those great and gifted characters, who once adorned 
that talented and happy island, we were then proud to 
call the place of our nativity. 

From that society all distinctions of party were ba¬ 
nished, and politics were forgotten; all merged in the 
general glow of private friendship; there were no con¬ 
tests save those of wit, no emulation but in the animated 
sallies of classic conviviality, there your talents were con¬ 
spicuous, and your elevation was predicted. In those 
societies our intimacy commenced, and generated a 
friendship, from which my heart and my actions have 
uever for one moment deviated. 



IV 


DEDICATION. 


No man knew me better than your Lordship, no man 
knows better the sacrifices I made to uphold our country. 
Once I was formidable to its enemies; but I have .ost 
my sting, and it required the strength of more than ordi¬ 
nary philosophy to bear up against that overwhelming 
weight of injustice, illegality, haughty and irresistible 
oppression, which, through unconstitutional proceedings, 
and for a palpably corrupt purpose, were heaped upon 
one of the oldest and most proven friends of the British 
Monarchy. I trust, however, to the justice and liberality 
of a reformed representation to afford me a full oppor¬ 
tunity of bringing before their eyes, that unprecedented 
scene of injustice, and of convincing the Empire, that 
real culprits, of the higher orders, were at the same 
moment, not only screened, but elevated. 

On the most important subject that ever agitated (and 
has not ceased to agitate) the British Empire, our sen¬ 
timents, my Lord, were congenial: we fought side by 
side in the cause of Ireland, upon that vital point I 
yielded my warmest friends, and acquired most inveterate 
enemies, you broke from no connexion, talent, patriotism, 
eloquence and integrity stamped your character; I feel, 
therefore, that, as the intimate of my society, the comrade 
of my battles, and, I believe, the friend of my declining 
years, I should pay to you this tribute of regard, by pre¬ 
senting to you a volume, which fills up the chasm of 
events for twenty of the most momentous years of Irish 
History; and, if God gives me health to complete what 
1 am undertaking, the reigns of the seven Viceroys 
which have succeeded the Union shall be given to the 
public, as an irrefragable proof of the truth of the predic¬ 
tions, which, in 1800, were urged in vain against the 
adoption of that disastrous measure. 

As some novel points of view in which I have in this 
volume placed the present state of the Un ; m question, 


DEDICATION. 


V 


spring solely from myself, they are only to he cons idered 
as the isolated opinion of a worn-out public mar.; full 
perhaps of those national prejudices, which are insepara- 
ble from his nature, but excusable when they are genu¬ 
ine, and founded on the purest principles of equity and 
constitution. 

One of the proudest days of my life was that when, a 
candidate for the Metropolis of Ireland, the five first 
names found on my tally, were those of the Grattan , G. 
Ponsonby, Plunket, Curran, and Ball; you, my Lord, 
are the only survivor of that illustrious group, who has 
lived to see the fulfilment of their prophecies, and in that 
point of view, I feel that not only my private friendship, 
but almost public duty, commands me to present to you 
a wor^, which, whilst narrating the glorious, but unsuc¬ 
cessful struggles of our common country, for its Inde¬ 
pendence, offers a feeble and melancholy tribute to the 
patriotism of those illustrious characters, whose memory 
will ever be revered by a generous and grateful people. 

Believe me, my dear Lord, to be. 

With the utmost sincerity, 

Yours most faithfully, 

JONAH BARRINGTON, 


ftna, 1st of May, 1833 



PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 


More than thirty summers have now passed by, since 
that disastrous measure, called a “legislative Union" 
extinguished at one blow, the pride, the prosperity, and 
the Independence of the Irish Nation. 

A measure which, under the false colours of guarding 
for ever against a disunion of the Empire, has taken the 
longest and surest stride to lead it to dismemberment. 

A measure which, instead of “consolidating th* 
strength and resource of the Empire ” as treacherously 
expressed from the Throne of the Viceroy, has, through 
its morbid operation, paralyzed the resources of Ireland; 
whilst England is exhausting her own strength, squam 
dering her own treasures, and clipping her own constitu¬ 
tion, to uphold a measure, effected by corruption, and 
maintained by oppression. 

A measure which, pretending to tranquillize, has in fact 
I excited more hostile, and I fear, interminable disgust, 
/ than had ever before existed between the two nations, 
and has banished from both, that mutual and invigorating 
attachment, which was daily augmenting, under the con¬ 
tinuance of the federative connexion. 

The protecting body of the country gentlemen have 
evacuated Ireland, and in their stead, we now find official 
clerks, griping agents, haughty functionaries, and proud 
Clergy; the resident Aristocracy of Ireland, if not quite 
extinguished, is hourly diminishing 5 and it is a political 
truism, that the coexistence of an oligarchy, without a 





Vlll PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 

cabinet, a resident executive, and an absent legislation, 
tenants without landlords, and magistrates without legal 
knowledge, must be, from its nature, a form of constitu¬ 
tion at once incongruous, inefficient, and dangerous. 
The present is a state which cannot exist; it is a strug¬ 
gle, that cannot continue, there is “a tide” in the affairs 
of Empires, as well as of individuals; every fever has a 
crisis: Ireland is in one now, I am no fanatic, I am the 
partisan only of tranquillity, in the country where I drew 
my first breath. 

The people of England, and also of some continental 
kingdoms, are fully aware of the distracted state of Ire¬ 
land, but are at a loss to account for it; it is now how¬ 
ever in proof, that thirty-three years of Union have been 
thirty-three years of beggary and disturbance, and this 
result, I may fairly say, I always foresaw. 

And when my humble sentiments as to the suscepti¬ 
bility of Ireland, and the misrule that seems entailed on 
her generations, have the honor of coinciding with those 
of the highest authority in England, on that subject, I 
feel myself invincible in the position, that “If Ireland 
was well governed she would be the brightest jewel in 
the King’s Crown. The proof that the people are not bad 
is that during two rebellions in 1715 and 1745 that raged 
in Scotland and England, the Irish people were quite 
quiet. But she has been badly governed, and has not 
and does not improve with the rest of the Empire.” 

In fact the world has now become not only enlighten¬ 
ed, but illuminated, by the progress of political informa¬ 
tion ; and it is clear as day that there are but two ways, 
through which eight millions of Irish population can ever 
be governed with security: either through the re-enjoy¬ 
ment of her own constitution, and voluntary affection to 
her rulers, or by physical force of arms, and the tempo¬ 
ral y right of conquest, the former even now requires only 


PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 131 

the will of England, and the word reconciliation; but 
both ancient and modern examples fully prove, that the 
whole physical force and power of Great Britain might 
find itself dangerously deceived in trying to establish by 
the sword, a system so repugnant to the veiy nature of 
the English people. 

During the short reign of Earl Fitzwilliam with a resi¬ 
dent legislature, five thousand men were sufficient to 
garrison every spot of Ireland, under the protracted reign 
of the present Viceroy, more than thirty thousand sol¬ 
diers are found necessary, to enforce obedience even to a 
single statute of the Imperial legislature. 

These are proofs and matters of fact, they carry con¬ 
viction to the reason of every man susceptible of convic¬ 
tion, and of every party not hurried away by prejudice, 
and great Britain herself must now perceive that above 
a third of her military are employed in Ireland, by her 
minister, to keep down the exuberant spirit of that people, 
and that army paid out of the English purse, by taxes 
levied on the English people, is solely maintained to 
extinguish that very spirit which they have themselves 
so triumphantly exercised to obtain a reform of their own 
corrupt legislature. 

The subjects of this volume, and some novel sugges¬ 
tions and doctrines it embodies, will of course excite 
many different opinions, as to the object of its author, in 
producing such a work, at so critical an epocha of the 
British Empire. I therefore hesitate not a moment in 
avowing my reasons; they are just, true, and con¬ 
ciliatory ; one is to dispel that profound ignorance of the 
real state of Ireland, its claims and its deprivations, 
which appears to have pervaded every class of the 
British people, and in which lack of information, so great 
a proportion even of the present Parliament appears tc 
participate. 


K 


PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 


But above all to convince the British people, that the) 
are the very worst friends of the connexion, who raise up 
a “repeal of the Union” as a sprite to terrify the English 
people, into a false belief that it would be only a certain 
prelude to a separation of the countries. 

Never yet was a more mischievous or false position 
forced on the credulity of an uninformed people ; whoever 
reads this volume will detect that falsehood; there they 
will find, by comparing times and incidents, that, so far 
fiom a resident legislature being a ground of separation, 
it was the knot that indissolubly united them, whilst the 
increasing miseries of Ireland, arising from this Union, 
are only the prelude to a convulsive separation of the two 
countries. 

In the body of this volume (page 391,) I have given 
my suggestion as to the term “Repeal of the Union” 
and my opinion, that no power of the Irish representa- 
ives or trustees, could enact a line of it, that as a consti- 
utional measure, it is a nullity unqualified, and that no 
such Union de jure, is at present in existence. 

I must here observe in reply to the ingenious verbiage 
of my able friend Baron Smith of the Irish Exchequer 
Bench, that of all the feeble attempts to uphold the affir¬ 
mative of that untenable position, his alone is worthy of 
the most trivial animadversion. 

When simply a member of the extinguished legisla¬ 
ture, he might, like many others, have supported that 
vicious doctrine for his temporary purposes; but it is *o 
be lamented, that being a judge he still supports the same 
doctrine, as to the competence of Parliament, though so 
distinctly and palpably repugnant to the eternal principles 
of Justice, and Equity, which form the very essence, and 
the pract ice of his jurisdiction. 

it is impossible to reconcile such pertinacious retention 
of that doctrine, save through a supposition, that the 


PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 


XI 


Kubtlety of sophistry and metaphysics, have suggested to 
his fancy, some imaginary distinction between that equity 
to which private property, and public right, have been 
invariably and equally entitled; and that an individual 
may be entitled to a justice, which a people can be 
deprived of; and a constitution betrayed by the very 
trustees, who were delegated for its protection. 

The case of England and Ireland is not merely a 
question of law, or even simply of constitution; it is a 
question actually embracing the law of nations, com¬ 
mercial treaties existed between them as independent 
countries, and Ireland enjoyed for eighteen years all the 
rights which the law of nations confers on independent 
states. 

The difficulties of dissolving the union are exaggera¬ 
ted, the situation of both countries presented far greater 
obstacles for their arrangement in 1782, than are at this 
moment existing. 

England at that period had usurped a dominion over 
the Irish legislature; policy and justice, called on her to 
relinquish that dominion; she obeyed the call, and the 
epeal of her own statute {sixth George I.) by inference 
Admitted the usurpation of centuries. 

Still the power of re-enactment remained; Ireland 
claimed a statutable renunciation of such a power, and 
a guarantee for the entire and unqualified Independence 
of the Irish legislature, and realm, for ever. 

England saw, and admitted, the policy and justice of 
the demand; she again obeyed the call, and voluntarily 
did guarantee for ever , the independence and integrity 
of Ireland. 

The experiment succeeded, and both countries pros¬ 
pered. The Union was enacted, and both countries feel 
the ruin of it. 

England, therefore, has only to act upon the very same 


Xli PREFATORY OBSERVATIOfTR. 

principle of honour, policy, and justice, as in 1782, and 
follow her former precedent, which conferred such bene* 
fits on both—Ireland has nothing to repeal; her Parlia- 
ment was incompetent, and her statute was a nullity. 
The English Act of Union was a statute de jure , and 
may be renounced as in 1782. 

I cannot terminate these observatioxxs, without express* 
ing how much the arrangement and the correctness of 
this volume, owe to the research, and revision, of my 
zealous and talented friend, Doctor Halliday of Paris, 
That congeniality of sentiment which generated oui 
mutual friendship, excited that exertion, and gives m< 
the pleasing opportunity, of saying, how much my esteem 
has been encreased, by a more intimate knowledge of Mi 
mind and of his principles. 

Paris, 1st May, 1$S8. 


\ 


i 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

S at an early period—Misgoverment and oppression of England— 
statistics—Climate—Geographical advantages—Internal resour 
Population—Her depressed condition in 1779—Causes of it— 
ing’s law—Usurpation by England to bind Ireland by British 
•Statutes—The Penal Statutes against Catholics—Fatal consequences 
to Ireland—Ireland roused by the example of America —Success of 
America—Its Effect on the Irish people—Origin of the Irish Volun¬ 
teers—Character of Lord Clare—His intolerance—His political incon¬ 
sistency—His fall, - - - - - p. 23 

CHAPTER II. 

State of the Irish Parliament previous to 1779—Previous to 1780, occa¬ 
sional contests arose in the Irish Parliaments—The absentees—The 
Irish Bar—Its influence and Independence—Mr. Burgh Prime-Ser¬ 
geant—The Attomey-general-i-France assists America against Eng- 
land-Jt-France the champion of Liberty;/England of Slavery-l-France 
threatens to invade Ireland—England prostrate and incapable of assist¬ 
ing Ireland—Moderation and patriotism of the Cathoh'cs—Character 
of the Irish people misrepresented and misunderstood in England— 
Irish character defamed by English writers—Character of the Irish 
peasant—Their undaunted courage—Attachment to their country— 
The Gentry—Romantic Chivalry of the Irish gentry—Suicide unknown 
in Ireland—Irish Peerage—Protestant Clergy—Catholic Clergy— Their 
conduct and manners, - - - p. 37 

CHAPTER III. 

Ireland awakened to a sense of her slavery—The Irish Parliament to¬ 
tally independent of England—The King acknowledged in Ireland 
through his Irish crown, and not through the crown of England—Per¬ 
ilous position of England—Moderation and attachment of Ireland— 
Ireland determined to demand her just lights—Conspiracy against the 
manufactures of Ireland—The non-consumption agreement adopted 
throughout all Ireland—Progress of the Volunteers—Their principal 
Leaders—Sir John Parnell—His character—General effects of volun¬ 
teering upon the people of Ireland, * - • p. 67 



COWTEWm 


JTO 


CHAPTER IV 

Unexpected events m the Irish House of Commons—Mr Grattan^ 
Amendment to the Address—His public character and vicissitudes— 
The Amendment—Its effects—Sir Henry Cavendish—His character— 
Mr. Hussey Burgh (the Prime-Sergeant) secedes from Government 
and substitutes an Amendment'•for Mr. Grattan’s—the Amendment 
passed—First step towards Irish independence—The English Parlia¬ 
ment callous to the wrongs of Ireland—Lord Shelburne and Lord 
Ossory propose resolutions—The Irish nation determined to assert its 
rights—Resolution for a free trade carried unanimously—This circum¬ 
stance one of the remote causes of the Union—Rapid progress of the 
Volunteers—Extraordinary military honours paid to the Duke of 
Leinster—Attempts to seduce the Volunteers—Earl of Charlemont— 
His character, • - • - - p. 71 

CHAPTER V. 

Spirit of the Irish and humiliation of the English Government—Prepara¬ 
tion for hostilities—Lord North’s embarrassment—King’s conciliatory 
speech and the consequent proceedings—Duplicity of Ministers—The 
people alarmed—Volunteer Organization proceeds—Mutiny Bill— 
Alarming rencontre of the Volunteers and Regular Army—Intolerance 
of England—Further Grievances of Ireland—Proceedings in the Irish 
Parliament—O’Neill of Shane’s Castle—His character and influence 
—Address to the Volunteers—Its results, - - p. 90 

CHAPTER VI. 

Observations as to the strength of a people—German mercenaries—Fur¬ 
ther subject of discontent in Ireland—Dispute between Ireland and 
Portugal—Portugal encouraged in her hostility towards Ireland by the 
British Minister—Perseverance of Portugal—Mr. Fitzgibbon’s motion 
—Sir Lucius O’Brien—Proposes that Ireland in her own right should 
declare war against Portugal—Sir J. Blaquiere—Effects of Sir Lucius 
O’Brien’s amendment—Distinctness ol' Ireland proved—Federative 
compact—Arguments for and against prompt proceedings—Spirited 
reasoning of the Irish—No Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland—Determi 
nation of the Volunteers—Origin and progress of delegated assemblies 
—The Northern Irish—Dungannon meeting—Mr. Dobbs—Extraordi¬ 
nary mind—His eccentricity—Theories—Colonel Irwin—Account of 
the Dungannon meeting continued—Dungannon resolutions. p. 104 

CHAPTER VII 

The Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, declares for Irish Independence— 
Sketch of his character—Resistance to English Laws unanimously 
decided on—Declaration of the Irish Volunteers disclaiming all Bri- 
tish authority—The Irish Judges dependent on the English Govern 
ment—Numerical force of the Irish Volunteers—Dissenting Clergy, 
men—Their Leaders—State of the Irish Parliament—Members divi 
ded into Classes—The leading members—Mr. Thomas Connolly—Mr 
Yelverton—His character, - - * p. 121 


CONTENTS. 


I? 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The alarm in England increases—The Earl of Carlisle recalled—Th« 
Duke of Portland appointed Lord Lieutenant—Duke of • Portland’s 
character—He attempts to procrastinate—Remarks on the policy of 
an Union at that juncture—Mr. Grattan refuses to delay his proceed¬ 
ings—Especial call of the house—Comparison of the English and 
Irish Houses of Parliament—Character of Mr. Sexton Perry—Embar¬ 
rassment of the Patriots—Mr. Hutchinson Secretary of State, unex¬ 
pectedly declares the assent of Government—Mr. Ponsonby moves 
an address considered insufficient—Dangerous dilemma of Parlia¬ 
ment, - - - - • - p. 142 

CHAPTER IX. 

Mr. Grattan moves a declaration of rights and grievances in Parliament 
—Mr. Brownlow—Mr. George Ponsonby—Mr. Flood—Mr. Fitzgib- 
bon’s conduct—His Declaration of Independence—Enthusiastic re¬ 
joicings, - - - - - - pi60 

CHAPTER X. 

Design of the British Goverment to recall the independence of Ireland— 
Singular conduct of the Attorney General—His speech—Its powerful 
effect—Palpable dread of an Insurrection—Effect on England—Duke 
of Portland’s duplicity—Attains an ascendency over Earl Charlemont 
—Embarrassment of the English Cabinet—The Volunteers prepare for 
actual service—Imbecility of England—Insidious designs of the Eng¬ 
lish Government—Mr. Fox—Mr. Pitt—Important meeting of Parlia¬ 
ment—The Volunteer Regiments occupy the avenues to the House of 
Commons—Designs of the Duke of Portland—Duke of Portland’s 
speech—Mr. Grattan — Mr. Brownlow—The Recorder and Mr 
Walshe oppose Mr. Grattan’s address—Mr. Flood neutral — Mr 
Walshe—Mr. Yelverton—The Secretar ■—Division—Consequent em¬ 
barrassment, - - - - p. 176 

CHAPTER XI 

Temporary credulity of the Irish Parliament—Country Gentlemen- 
Singular character of Mr. Bagenal—His Exploits—Popularity—His 
patriotism — Commanded many Volunteer Corps — Gives notice of a 
motion to reward Mr. Grattan — Anti-prophetic observation—Mr. 
Grattan’s increasing popularity—Hasty repeal of the declaratory act 
6th Geo. III.—And transmitted by the Viceroy to the Volunteers—. 
Doctrine of Blackstone declared unconstitutional—Mr. Bagenal’s motion 
to grant c£ 100,000, to Mr. Grattan—Mistaken pride of his friends— 
Extraordinary occurrence—Insidious conduct of Government—Mr. 
Thomas Connolly makes a most unprecedented motion—Viceroy offers 
the Palace to Mr. Grattan and his heirs as a reward for his services— 
Objects of the Government in making the offer—Discoveied by the 
indiscretion of the Secretary, Col. Fitzpairick—His character—Real 
thjecte developed—Mr. Grattan’s friends dt line so large a grant-— 


CONTENTS 


xri 

Then mistaken principle—Effects of the caluinn es against Ireland- 
False arguments—Comparison of the conduct of England and Ire 
land—Comparative loyalty, - - - - p. 190 

CHAPTER XII. 

Epitome of Irish History—Treacherous system of the English Govern¬ 
ment—First Irish Union—Second Union compared with the first— 
King Henry’s Acts in Ireland—His plan to decimate the nation—He 
relinquished his dominion over Ireland—Abortive attempts to colonize 
—Totally failed, p- 202 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Ireland kept in a state of oppression and turbulence—Elizabeth becomes 
Queen — Character public and private of Queen Elizabeth—Henry 
the VIII.—Fanaticism of the English—True principles of tolerance— 
Union of religion and political fanaticism—Religious schisms excited 
through Luther—Violent dissensions—The Irish roused—Cruel tyran¬ 
ny of Elizabeth—Earl of Tyrone excites the Irish—Extract from his 
speech—General rising of the Irish and old English colonists—Im¬ 
mense slaughter—Confiscation of whole provinces to Elizabeth—Ac¬ 
cession of James the First—Comparison with Elizabeth—His wist* 
maxims—Conciliatory principles—Its full success—Charles the First- 
Disloyalty of the English—Ireland desolated by Cromwell, p. 207 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Restoration of the Stuart dynasty—Usurpation of William — Ireland 
remained loyal—Comparison of the people—The revolutionary prin¬ 
ciple undefined—The Irish treated as rebels by William for their I 03 7 - 
alty to their King—Character of William the Third—Contiuued oj 
pression and malgovernment of Ireland—The Scotch and Englisl 
rebelled—Ireland remained tranquil—Comparison of the English am 
Irish as to their kings—Ireland first infected by the Scotch and English 
rebellions—Mr. Pitt suppressed the spirit of insurrection in England 
promptly—Suffered it to increase in Ireland, - - p. 219 

CHAPTER XV. 

vpfhohc relaxation Bills opposed by Mr. Rowley—Sir Edward Newcn- 
enham—Doctor Patrick Duigenam—His Character—Mr. Ogle—Bills 
passed—Unjust doctrine—Change in the Irish Parliament—Mr. Fox’s 
candour—His speech—Deception of the British Government devel¬ 
oped— Marquis of Rockingham—Total absence of energy—Mr. 
Burke—Inactive as to Ireland—New debates—Embarrassing conse¬ 
quences of Mr. Grattan’s address—Mr. Grattan’s motion objectionable 
—Mr. Flood’s reply—Unfortunate collision of Grattan and Flood— 
Mr. Grattan’s fallacious motion—Mr. Flood’s reply—Mr. Montgo¬ 
mery moves to build an Irish navy—Negatived—Parliament pio- 
rogued—Most important session—Moderation of Ireland—Duke ol 
Portland’s hypocritical speech, - - - - p 230 


CONTENTS. 


xvn 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Insufficiency ot Mr. Grattan’s measures—Death of he Marquis ol 
Rockingham and its consequences—Earl Temple Lord Lieutenant— 
Mr. Grenville Secretary—His Character—Lord Temple—Not unpop¬ 
ular—Mr. Corry a principal instrument of Lord Temple—Proceedings 
of-the Volunteers—Strong resolutions to oppose English Laws—Bad 
effects of the dissension between Grattan and Flood—Sir George 
Young—Effect of Sir'George Young’s speech—Lord Mansfield’s con¬ 
duct accounted for—Consequence ot these speeches—British Parlia¬ 
ment belie their own Act—Lord Abingdon denies the King’s right to 
pass the Bill—England by Statute admitted her usurpation, and relin¬ 
quished for ever her right to legislate for Ireland—Renunciation Act 
—Mr. Grattan still perversely opposes Mr. Flood—The renunciation 
Act confirmed Mr. Flood’s doctrine, p. 245 

CHAPTER XVII. 

fjord Charlemont’s courtly propensities—Comparison of Grattan and 
Flood—Consequences of their jealousy to the country—The people 
enlightened, learn the true state of their situation—Discussion—And 
Arguments—Inefficiency of the measures as a future security—A 
Reform of Parliament indispensable to public security—Mr. Pitt—His 
duplicity and corruption—Constitutional reasons for a Reform of Par¬ 
liament—Deduction—Conclusion drawn by the Volunteers—Proved 
by incontrovertible fact—State of Electors and Representatives com¬ 
pared—Mr. Curran—His character, - - - p. 261 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Volunteers received by the King —Happy state of Ireland—Progressive¬ 
ly prosperous—Untoward consequences of the collision between Flood 
and Giattan—A second Dungannon meeting of delegated Volunteers—■ 
Mr. Flood gains ground—Arguments—A National Convention decided 
on—Their first meeting — Interesting procession of the Delegates 
described—Entrance of the Delegates—Extraordinary coincidence of 
localities—Embarrassing situation—The Delegates meet at the Ro¬ 
tunda, ------ p. 276 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Hie Bishop of Derry takes his seat at the Convention—His splendour— 
And pageantry—Procession—Popularity—Extraordinary Visit to the 
House of Lords—A Guard of Honour mounted at his house—Entire¬ 
ly devuted to the Irish people—His great qualities and acquirements— 
Opposes Charlemont and Grattan—First treacherous Scheme of the 
British Government again to enslave Ireland—The spirit of the Irish 
Parliament declines—Reasons for Reform in Parliament—Absolutely 
essential to her prosperity—Further traits of Lord Charlemont’s Char¬ 
acter—His inefficiency^—His views—Opposes the Bishop of Derry’s 
Election for the Presidency of the National Convention—Many Mem¬ 
bers of Parliament attend the Convention also—Earl Charlemont’? 

2 * 


ran 


CONTENTS 


dilemma—Proceedings of the Convention—The Bishop and Mr. 
Flood acquired the ascendency—The Parliament and Convention- 
Desperate step of Government—Fitzgibbon's Philippic—Most violenl 
Debates—Bill rejected—Extraordinary coincidence of facts—Mr. Con¬ 
nolly’s motion—Feeble and insidious resolution of Lord Cbarlemont— 
Fatal adjournment—Called a meeting of his partisans—Breaks hia 
trust—Inexcusable conduct—False statement—Virtually dissolves the 
Convention before the full meeting—Lord Charlemont justly reproba¬ 
ted—Volunteers beat to arms—Lord Charlemont’s intolerance—Op¬ 
posed by the Bishop of Derry, - - - p. 289 

CHAPTER XX. 

Celebrated Address of the Volunteers to the Bishop—Reply of the 
Bishop—Some thought the Bishop’s answer too strong—A new Bill 
suggested—New measures of Earl Charlemont—Decline of the Vol¬ 
unteers—Insincerity of the concessions—Cupidity of English traders 
—Sordid interest absorbed her justice—Commercial treaty and tariff 
proposed—Commercial propositions—Mr. Pitt’s duplicity—Magnifi¬ 
cence of the Irish Court—The Propositions rejected—Mr. Brownlow 
opposes the eleven propositions—Passed the Commons—Mr. Pitt 
proposes twenty propositions—Embarrassment of the Secretary — 
Most violent debates in the Irish Parliament—The Minister virtually 
defeated—The treaty ended—Defeat of the treaty effected by the coun¬ 
try gentlemen—Mr. Forbes a leading member of the House of Com¬ 
mons—Mr Hardy—Mr Carleton, Solicitor General—His singular 
character, ------ p. 305 

CHAPTER XXI 

Death of the Duke of Rutland—Marquis of Buckingham’s second Gov¬ 
ernment—The question of a Regency—Mr. Pitt’s conduct—The 
Prince submitted to the restraints—The Irish resisted, and refused to 
restrain him—Unprecedented case—Collision between the two Parlia¬ 
ments—Round Robin—Irish address to the Prince—Sketch of the 
Arguments on the Regency question in Ireland—Constitutional state 
of both nations—Conduct of the nations contrasted—Reasons for the 
Irish Parliament proceeding by Address, and not by Statute, to appoint 
a Regent — Question whether the Parliaments of England or Ireland 
had committed a breach of the Constitution—Threats of the Viceroy— 
The Round Robin—Viceroy determined to retire—Reception of the 
Irish delegates by the Prince—Address of the Irish Parliament to the 
Prince—Reply of the Prince, eulogizing the Irish legislature—After¬ 
wards neglected, - - - - - p319 

CHAPTER XXII 

Ireland acted on her independence—Prosperous state of Ireland at that 
Period—The Rise of the Irish Nation consummated by the withdrawal 
of the Viceroy—Particularly important observation—Lord Westmore¬ 
land—Major Hobart—His character—State of Ireland on his accession 
to office—Concessions by Government—Delusion and negligence of the 


CONTENTS. 


»ia 

Opposition—Catholic emancipation commenced—Arguments of ths 
Catholics—Catholic petition rejected by a great majority—Deep de¬ 
signs of Mr. Pitt—Mr. Pitt proceeds with his measures to promote a 
union—Lord Fitzwilliam appointed Lord Lieutenant—His character— 
Deceived and calumniated by Mr. Pitt—Great popularity of the Lord 
Lieutenant—Earl Fitzwilliam recalled—Fatal consequences—Ireland 
given up to Lord Clare, and insurrection excited—Lord Camden—Uni¬ 
ted Irishmen—Unprecedented Organization—Lord Camden’s charactei 
—Despotic conduct of Lord Clare—Earl Carhampton commander-in¬ 
chief—Disobeys Lord Camden—Again disobeys—The King’s sign- 
manuel commands him to obey—He resigns, p. 330 

CHAPTER XXIII 

I isurrection—Topography of Wexford County—Persecutions and cruel¬ 
ties of the Wexford Gentry—Commencement of Hostilities—State of 
the Insurgents—And their number—Expected attack on Dublin- 
Excellent plan of the Insurgents—Executions in cold blood, and bar¬ 
barous exhibition in the Castle yard—Major Bacon executed without 
trial—Major Foot defeated—Col. Walpole defeated and killed—Gen¬ 
eral Fawcett defeated—General Dundas and the Cavalry defeated by 
the Pikemen—Captain Armstrong’s treachery—Henry and John 
Shears—The execution of the two brothers—Progress of the insur¬ 
rection—Different Battles—Important Battle of Arklow—Spirited reply 
of Colonel Skerrit—Battle of Ross—Bagenal Harvey—De^'.n of Lord 
Mountjoy—Unprecedented instance of Heroism in a Boy—The Royal 
Army driven out of the town—Description of Vinegar Hill—Details 
of the Engagement—General Lake’s horse shot under him—Ennis- 
corthy twice stormed—Wounded peasants burned—Mr. Grogan tried 
by Court Martial—His witness shot by the military—Bill of attainder 
—Ten thousand pounds costs to the Attorney General—Barbarous ex¬ 
ecution of Sir Edward Crosby and Mr. Grogan, under colour of a 
Court Martial, ..... p. 345 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Appointment of Lord Cornwallis—His crafty conduct—French invade 
Ireland in a small number—British troops totally defeated, their artil¬ 
lery all taken—Races of Castlebar—Ninety militia men hanged by 
Lord Cornwallis—French outwit Lord Cornwallis—Lord Jocelyn 
taken prisoner—French surrendered—Mr. Pitt proceeds in his projects 
of a Union—The subserviency of the Lords—The Bishops—Bishops 
of Waterford and Down—Political characters of Lord Cornwallis and 
Lord Castlereagh—Unfortunate results of Lord Cornwallis’s conduct 
in every quarter of the world—Lord Castlereagh—Union proposed— 
Great splendour of the Chancellor—Celebrated Bar Meeting—Mr. 
Saurin—Mr. Saint George Daly—Mr. Thomas Grady—Mr. Grady’s 
curious harangue—Mr. Thomas Goold’s speech—Thirty-two County 
Judges appointed by Lord Clare—Lord Clare opposes the Bar—Open¬ 
ing of the session of 1799—Jxird Clare’s great power—Lord Ty¬ 
rone’s character—Seconded by Mr. Fitzgerald—Mr. John Ball—His 
jharacter, ------ 361 


CONTENTS. 


EX 


CHAPTER XXV 

The three leading arguments used in Parliament in favoui of a Union- 
Arguments of the Anti-Unionists—Not England which quelled th« 
insurrection—English militia never acted in Ireland—Mr. William 
Smith supports the Union—Corrupt conduct of Mr. Trench and Mr 
Fox—Mr. Trench palpably gained over—Mr. Trench recanted what 
he had a few moments before declared—The Place Bill and its unfor¬ 
tunate effects—Mr. Fox created a Judge of the Common Pleas for his 

^ tergiversation—Originally a Whig—Made a false declaration to avoid 
being counted—Effect of the Place Bill—His second deception—Con¬ 
duct of Mr. Cooke and Admiral Pakenham—Mr. Marshall’s disgrace¬ 
ful conduct—Debate commenced—Great popularity of the Speaker— 
Lord Castlereagh’s policy—Sir John Parnell denied the competence of 
both the King and the Parliament to enact a Union—Mr. Tighe the 
same—Great effect of Mr. Ponsonby’s speech—Remarkable agitation— 
Description of the scene—Lord Castlereagh’s violent speech—Attack 
on Mr. Ponsonby—Mr. Ponsonby’s sarcastic reply—Lord Castle¬ 
reagh’s desperation—Mr. John Egan attacks Mr. William Smith—Sir 
Laurence Parsons made a most able and eloquent speech—Mr. Fred¬ 
erick Falkiner nothing could corrupt—Prime Sergeant Fitzgerald dis¬ 
missed—Mr. Plunket’s speech—Spirited speech of Col. O’Donnell— 
Secon 1 shameful tergiversation of Mr. Trench, created Lord Ashtown 
—Most important incident in the annals of Ireland—State of the 
House of Commons—Mr. Fortescue's fatal speech—Mr. French and 
LorJ Cole seceded—John Claudius Beresford—Extraordinary change 
in the feelings of the House—Sarcastic remark of Sir Henry Caven¬ 
dish—Great popularity of the Speaker—Joy and exultation of the 
people—Singular anecdote of Mr. Martin—Meeting of the Lords— 
Their infatuation—Conduct of Lord Clare—Unpopularity of the Irish 
Peers—Two Bishops, Down and Limerick, opposed him—Charactei 
if the Bishop of Down—Commission of Compensation—Subsequent 
proceedings of the Viceroy and Lord Castlereagh—Ruinous conse¬ 
quence of Mr. Fortescue’s conduct—Mistaken conduct of the Anti- 
Unionists—Their embarrassment—Bad effects of Mr. Fortescue’s con¬ 
duct—The Catholics—State of parties, - - p. 383 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The different views of the Opposition—Opposition not sufficiently or¬ 
ganized or connected—Disunion in consequence of the Catholic ques¬ 
tion—Catholics duped—Alternately oppressed and fostered — Lord 
Clare’s great influence—Very important despatch from Mr. Pitt, tc 
Lord Cornwallis—Unprecedented plan of Lord Castlereagh—Remark¬ 
able dinner—The plan or conspiracy—Acceded to—Rewards in Per¬ 
spective—Meeting of Anti-Unionists at Lord Charlemont’s—Opposi¬ 
tion Lords meet—Lord Castlereagh’s Plan laid before them—Counter¬ 
plan proposed—Rejected—Earl Belmore—His motion to the same 
effect as Mr. Ponsonby’s—Rejected—Very numerous addresses again* 
the Union—Particularly Dublin—A Privy Council—Lord Clare’s vio¬ 
lence—Military execution—People killed and wounded—Inefficient!) 


CONTENTS. 


XX* 


brought beiore Parliament—Anti-Union dinnt —Mr. Handcock of 
Athlone, a conspicuous patriot—Corrupt state of the British Parlia¬ 
ment—Compared with that of Ireland at the Union—Mr. Handcoek 
bribed, - - - p. 420 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Felons in the gaols induced, by promise of pardon, to sign petitions m 
favour of the Union—Every means of corruption resorted to by the 
Viceroy—Viceroy doubtful of future support—Resorted to Place Bill 
—Unparalleled measure of public bribery avowed by Lord Castle- 
reagh—Bill to raise d£ 1,500,000, for bribes—Grave reflection on the 
King’s assenting to an avowed act of corruption—A few bribes called 
Compensation—The British Parliament had anticipated the proposal— 
Lord Cornwallis’s speech peculiarly artful—Lord Loftus moves the 
address—Lord Castlereagh’s reason—Sir Laurence Parson’s important 
motion and speech—Debate continued all night—Lord Castlereagh’s 
plan put into execution—Mr. Bushe—Mr. Plunket—Mr. St. George 
Daly—His character—His attack on Mr. Bushe—On Mr. Plunket— 
Replied to by Mr. Barrington—Mr. Peter Burrows—Affecting appear 
ance of Mr. Grattan in the House of Commons—Returned lor Wicklow 
the preceding evening—The impediment laid oy Government—Re¬ 
turned at midnight—Entered the house at seven in the morning in a 
debilitated state—Description of his entry—Powerful sensation caused 
ny his sp'endid oration—Mr. Corry induced to reply—No effect on the 
House—The three Bagwells seceded from Government—Lord Ormond 
changed to the minister—Mr. Arthur Browne’s tergiversation—Divi¬ 
sion—Mr. Foster’s speech—Important incident—Bad conduct of the 
clergy—Very singular circumstance—Mr. Annesley chairman of the 
committee on the Union—Bishop of Clogher returns Mr. Annesley to 
Parliament—Messrs. Ball and King petition—Succeed—Mr. Annesley 
declared not duly elected—Left the chair and quitted the House—Not 
a legal chairman—Shameful and palpable act of corruption by Sir 
William Gladowe Newcomen—Bribe proved—Bribery of Mr. Knox 
and Mr. Crowe—Their speeches against the Union—The Earl of 
Belvidere most palpably bribed to change sides—His resolutions—Mr 
Knox and Mr. Crowe bribed—Mr. Usher bribed to secrecy—The cor¬ 
rupt agreement of Mr. Crowe and Mr. Knox to vacate their seats for 
Union members, in presence of Mr. Usher, a Parson—The t» rma 
with Lord Castlereagh—Mr. Charles Ball’s affecting conduct— The 
Anti-Union members, despairing, withdraw in a body—Last sittb g of 
the Irish Parliament—The House surrounded by military —) lost 
affecting scene—Bad consequences to England—Unhappiness o the 
Speaker—Irela id extinguished, p A33 


i&‘ -v 
























t 


t 


I 









RISE AND FALL 


•» 

THE IRISH NATION. 


CHAPTER I. 

Ireland at an early period—Misgovemment and oppression of England— 
Irish statistics—Climate—Geographical advantages—Internal resource! 
—Population—Her depressed condition in 1779—Causes of it—Povn- 
mg’s law—Usurpation by England to bind Ireland by British Statutes 
—The Penal Statutes against Catholics—Fatal consequences to Ireland 
—Ireland roused by the example of America—Success of America— 
Its effect on the Irish people—Origin of the Irish Volunteers—Cha¬ 
racter of Lord Clare—His intolerance—His political inconsistency— 
His fall. 

I. More than six centuries had passed away, since Ire- 
viand had first acknowledged a subordinate connexion 
with the English Monarchy—her voluntary but partial 
*\ submission to the sceptres of Henry and of Richard had 
been construed by their successors into the right of con¬ 
quest—and the same spirit of turbulence and discord, 
which had generated the treachery and treasons of 
M‘Morrough, was carfully cultivated by every English 
potentate, as the most effectual barrier against the strug¬ 
gles of a restless and semi-conquered people—and Ire¬ 
land, helpless and distracted, groaned for ages in obscu¬ 
rity, under the accumulated pressure of internal strife 
and external tyrranny. 

The apathy produced by this habitual oppression had 
long benumbed the best energies of Ireland;—her 
vational spirit, depressed by the heavy hand of arb* 




24 


RISE AND FAL1« 


tra ry restraint, almost forgot its own existence; and the 
proudest language of her constitution could only boast, 
that she was the annexed dependant of a greater and a 
freer country. 

It was not until an advanced stage of the American 
revolt had attracted the attention of enlightened Eurojra 
to the first principles of civil liberty, that Ireland began 
steadily to reflect on her own deprivations. Commerce 
and constitution had been withdrawn from her grasp, 
and the usurped supremacy* of the British Parliament 
gave a death-blow to every struggle of Irish inde¬ 
pendence. 

II. But in whatever relative situation the two nations 
really stood, the same jealous and narrow principle might 
be perceived uniformly attending every measure enacted 
as to the Irish people. If at any time a cheering ray of 
commercial advantage chanced for a moment to illu¬ 
minate the dreary prospects of Ireland, the sordid spirit 
of monopoly instantly arose in England, and rendered 
every effort to promote a beneficial trade, or advance a 
rival manufacture, vain and abortive. 

Commercial jealousy and arbitrary government united, 
therefore, to suppress every struggle of the Irish nation, 
and root up every seed of prosperity and civilization. 

Alarmed at the increasing population, the unsubdued 
‘spirit, and the inexhaustible resources of that strong and 
fertile island; a dread of her growing power excited a 
fallacious jealousy of her future importance. In her 
timidity or her avarice, England lost sight of her truest 
interests, and of her nobler feelings; and kings, usurpers, 
and viceroys, as they respectively exercised the powers 
of government, all acted towards Ireland upon the same 
blind and arbitary principles, which they had imbibed 
from their education, or inherited from their prede¬ 
cessors. 

This desperate policy, so repugnant to the attachment, 
and fatal to the repose of the two countries, excited the 
spirit of eternal warfare:—an enthusiastic love of na- 

* The claim of the British Parliament to bind Ireland by British 
statutes was at length most ably refuted by Mr. William Molyneux, 
representative for Dublin University, in his celebrated work, published 
in 1699, entitled “ The Case of Ireland** 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


25 


tional independence sharpened the sword, and zealots 
of religious fanaticism threw away the scabbard—the 
septs fought against each other, the English against all— 
the population was thinned, but the survivors became 
inveterate; and though the wars and the massacres of 
Elizabeth and of Cromwell, by depopulating, appeared to 
have subjugated the nation—the triumph was not glori¬ 
ous—and the conquest was not complete. 

Direct persecution against principles only adds fuel to 
a conflagration—the persons of men may be coerced— 
but it is beyond the reach of human power to subdue the 
rooted, hereditary passions and prejudices of a perse¬ 
vering, ardent, and patriotic people:—such a nation 
may be gained over by address, or seduced by dissimula¬ 
tion, but can never be reclaimed by force, or overcome 
by persecution—yet from the very first intercourse be¬ 
tween the tAVO countries, that destructive system of force 
and of dissension, which so palpably led tc the miseries 
of Ireland, had been sedulously cultivated, . nd unremit¬ 
tingly persevered in. 

Thus grievously oppressed, and ruinous’y disunited, 
Ireland struggled often, but she struggled u vain: the 
weight of her chains was too heavy for the i 3ebleness of 
her constitution, and every effort to enlarge her liberty 
only gave a new pretext to the conqueror, to circum¬ 
scribe it within a still narrower compass. 

On the same false principle of government this op¬ 
pressed nation was also systematically retained in a state 
of the utmost obscurity, and represented to the world as 
an insignificant and remote island, remarkable only for 
her turbulence and sterility: and so perfectly did this 
misrepresentation succeed, that, while every republic and 
minor nation of Europe had become the theme of tra¬ 
vellers, and the subject of historians, Ireland was visited 
only to be despised, and spoken of only lo be calumni¬ 
ated. In truth, she is as yet but little known by the rest 
of Europe, and but partially even to the people of Eng¬ 
land. But when the extraordinary capabilities, the re- 
soirees, and the powers of Ireland are fully developed, 
an interest must arise in every breast, which reflects on 
her misfortunes. It is time that the curtain, which has 
been so long interposed between Ireland and the rest of 


26 


RISE AND FALL 


Eurojie, should be drawn aside for ever, a ad a just judg* 
ment formed of the impolicy of measures, which have 
been adopted nominally to govern, but substantially to 
suppress her power and prosperity. 

III. The position of Ireland upon the face of the 
globe peculiarly formed her for universal intercourse, 
and adapted her in every respect for legislative inde¬ 
pendence. Separated by a great sea from England— 
the Irish people, dissimilar in customs, more than equal 
in talent, and vastly superior in energy, possess an island 
about 900 miles in circumference; with a climate, for 
the general mildness of temperature and moderation of 
seasons, unrivalled in the universe—the parching heats, 
or piercing colds, the deep snows, the torrent, and the 
hurricane, which other countries so fatally experience, are 
here unknown. Though her great exposure to the spray 
of the Atlantic increases the humidity of the atmosphere, 
it adds to the fecundity of the soil, and distinguishes her 
fertile fields by the productions of an almost perpetual 
vegetation. 

The geographical situation of Ireland is not less 
favorable to commerce, than her climate is to agricul¬ 
ture. Her position on the western extremity of Europe 
would enable her to intercept the trade of the new 
world from all other nations—the merchandise of Lon¬ 
don, of Bristol, and of Liverpool, skirt her shores, before 
it arrives at its own destination ; and some of the finest 
harbours in the world invite the inhabitants of this 
gifted island to accept the trade of India, and form the 
emporium of Europe. 

The internal and natural advantages of Ireland are 
great and inexhaustible. Rich mines are found in almost 
every quarter of the island ; gold is discovered in the 
beds of streams, and washed from the sands of rivulets— 
the mountains are generally arable to their summits—the 
vallies exceed in fertility the most prolific soils of Eng¬ 
land—the rivulets, which flow along the declivities, adapt 
the country most peculiarly to the improvement of irri¬ 
gation ; and the bogs and mosses of Ireland, utterly 
unlike the fens and marshes of England, emit no damp 
or noxious exhalations ; and give a plentiful and cheer 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


trig fuel to the surrounding peasantry; or, when re- 
zlaimed, become the-most luxuriant pastures. 

The population of Ireland is great and progressive. 
Above five* millions of a brave and hardy race of men 
are seen scattered through the fields, or swarming in the 
villages—a vast redundancy of grain, and innumerable 
flocks and herds, should furnish to them not only the 
source of trade, but every means of comfort. 

Dublin, the second city in the British empire, though 
it yields in extent, yields not in architectural beauties to 
the metropolis of England. For some years previous to 
the Union, its progress was excessive—the locality of the 
parliament—the constant residence of the nobility and 
commons—the magnificent establishments of the vice¬ 
regal court—the indefatigable hospitality of the people— 
and the increasing commerce of the port, all together 
gave a brilliant prosperity to that splendid and luxurious 
capitat^ 

Ireland,t possessing the strongest features of a power¬ 
ful state, though labouring under every disadvantage 
which a restricted commerce and a jealous ally could inflict 
upon her prosperity, might still have regarded with con¬ 
tempt the comparatively unequal resources and inferior 
powers of half the monarchies of Europe. Her insular 
situation—her great fertility—the character of her 
people—the amount of her revenues—and the extent of 
her population, gave her a decided superiority over 
other nations, and rendered her crown, if accompanied 
by her a flections, not only* a brilliant but a most sub¬ 
stantial ornament to the British empire. 

'however, though gifted, and enriched by the hand of 
Nature, the fomented dissensions of her own natives had 
wedded Ireland to poverty, and adapted her to subjuga- 

* Now upwards of eight millions. 

f The relative size of Ireland, compared to England and Wales, is 
about 18 to 30. Jt contains about eighteen millions of acres; is about 
285 miles long, and above 160 broad. In time of war she lends more 
than one hundred thousan 1 soldiers and sailors to the English fleet and 
army, and retains at home above one million of hardy men, from 17 to 
47 years of age, lit to near aims. 

X In the very words of the highest authority in Great Britain ‘his 
day, “ If well goierned. , Ireland would be the brightest jewel in the 
king’s crown.” 


gs 


RISE AND FALL 


don—her innate capacities lay dorjnant and inactive— 
her dearest interests were forgotten by herself, resisted 
by her ally; and the gifts and bounties of a favouring 
Providence, though lavished, were lost on a divided 
people. 

IY. By the paralyzing system thus adopted towards 
Ireland, she was at length reduced to the lowest ebb— 
her poverty and distresses, almost at their extent, were 
advancing fast to their final consummation—her com¬ 
merce had almost ceased—her manufactures extinguished 
—her constitution withdrawn—the people absolutely 
desponding—while public and individual bankruptcy 
finished a picture of the deepest misery ;* and the yeai 
1779 found Ireland almost every thing but what such a 
country and such a people ought to have been. 

This lamentable state of the Irish nation was not the 
result of any one distinct cause : a combination of de¬ 
pressing circumstances united to bear down every pro¬ 
gressive elfort of that injured people. Immured in a 
labyrinth of difficulties and embarrassments, no clew was 
found to lead them through the mazes of their prison ; 
and, helpless and desponding, they sunk into a dose of 
torpid inactivity, while their humiliated and inefficient 
parliaments, restrained by foreign and arbitrary laws, 
subjected to the dictation of the British Council, and 
obstructed in the performance of its constitutional func¬ 
tions, retained scarcely the shadow of an independent 
legislature. 

A' statute of Henry the Seventh of England, framed 

* This wretched period cannot be more pathetically described, than by 
a most able and just statement of Irish grievances, published in the year 
1779, by Mr. Hely Hutchinson, (father of the present Lords Donough- 
more and Hutchinson,) then Provost of the Dublin University, an elo¬ 
quent and very distinguished member of the Irish Parliament. In his 
book entitled “ Commercial Restraints,” Mr. Hutchinson gives a pa¬ 
thetic description of the state to which Ireland was reduced by the jeal¬ 
ous and narrow policy of England. 

This book acquired so much character, and spoke so many plain truths, 
that for many years it was qu^ed as an authority in the Irish Parlia¬ 
ment. Mr. Flood often declared, that, if there were but two copies of it 
in print, he would give a thousand pounds for one of them. It will be 
interesting to compare the miserable state of Ireland in 1779 with hei 
prosperity in 1794, when she had enjoyed only twelve years of consti¬ 
tutional independence and unrestricted commerce. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


29 


by his Attorney-General, Sir Edward Poyning, re¬ 
strained the Irish Parliament from originating any law 
whatever, either in the Lords or Commons. Before any 
statute could be finally discussed, it was previously to be 
submitted to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his 
Privy Council, for their consideration, who might at their 
pleasure reject it, or transmit it to England. If trans¬ 
mitted to England, the British Attorney General and 
Privy Council were invested with a power either to sup¬ 
press it altogether, or model it at their own will, and 
then return it to Ireland, with permission to the Irish 
Parliament to pass it into a law, but without any altera- 
;ion, though it frequently returned from England so 
changed, as to retain hardly a trace of its original fea¬ 
tures, or a point of its original object. 

Yet, as if this arbitrary law were insufficient to secure 
Great Britain from the etfect of those rival advantages, 
which Ireland might in process of time eventually ac¬ 
quire ; and as if that counteracting power, with which 
England had invested herself by the law of Poyning, 
were unequal to the task of effectually suppressing all 
rivalship of the Irish people, and independence of the 
Irish Parliament ; it was thought advisable by Great 
Britain, to usurp a positive right to legislate for Ireland, 
without her own consent, or the interference of her Par¬ 
liament : and a law was accordingly enacted at West¬ 
minster, in the sixth year of the reign of George the 
First, by one sweeping clause of which England assumed 
a despotic power, and declared her inherent right to bind 
Ireland by every British statute , in which she should be 
expressly designated : and thus, by the authority of the 
British Council on the one hand, and the positive right 
assumed by the British Parliament upon the other, Ire¬ 
land retained no more the attributes of an independent 
nation, than a monarch, attended in a dungeon with all 
the state and trappings of royalty, and bound hand and 
foot in golden shackles, could be justly styled an inde¬ 
pendent potentate. 

The effect of this tyrannical and ruinous system fell 
most heavily on the trade of Ireland. Its influence was 
experienced not merely by any particular branch of com¬ 
merce, but in every stage of manufacture, of arts, oi 

3* 


30 


RISE AND FALL 


trade, and of agriculture. In every struggle of the Irish 
Parliament to promote the commerce or the manufac¬ 
tures of their country, the British monopolizers were 
perpetually victorious ; and even the speculative jea¬ 
lousy of a manufacturing village of Great Britain was 
of sufficient weight to negative any measure, however 
beneficial to the general prosperity of the sister country. 

The same jealousy and the same system, which ope¬ 
rated so fatally against the advancement of her com¬ 
merce, operated as strongly against the improvement of 
her constitution. England was well aware, that the 
acquirement of an independent Parliament would be the 
sure forerunner of commercial liberty; and, posse''~ed of 
the means to counteract these objects, she seemed de¬ 
termined never to relax the strength of that power, by 
the despotic exercise of which Ireland had been so long 
continued in a state of thraldom. 

But exclusive of these slavish restraints (the necessary 
consequence of a dependent legislature,) another system, 
not less adverse to the general prosperity of the whole 
island, than repugnant to the principles of natural justice 
and of sound policy, had been long acted upon with 
every severity, that bigotry could suggest, or intolerance 
could dictate. 

V. The penal statutes, under the tyrannical pressure 
of which the Catholics had so long and so grievously 
laboured, though in some instances softened down, still 
bore heavily upon four-fifths of the Irish population—a 
code, which would have dishonoured even the sanguinary 
pen of Draco, had inflicted every pain and penalty, every 
restriction and oppression, under which a people could 
linger out a miserable existence. By these statutes, the 
exercise of religion had been held a crime, the educa¬ 
tion of children a high misdemeanour—the son was 
encouraged to betray his father—the child rewarded for 
the ruin of his parent—the house of God declared a 
public nuisance—the officiating pastor proclaimed an out¬ 
law—the acquirement of property absolutely prohibited— 
the exercise of trades restrained—plunder legalized in 
courts of law, and breach of trust rewarded in courts of 
equity—the Irish Catholic excluded from the possession 
of any office or occupation in the state, the law, the 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


31 


aimy, the navy, the municipal bodies, and the chartered 
corporations—and the mild doctrines of the Christian 
faith perverted, even in the pulpit, to the worst purposes 
of religious persecution. 

Yet under this galling yoke the Irish, for near eighty 
years remained tranquil and submissive. The ignorance, 
into which poverty and wretchedness had plunged that 
people, prevented them from perceiving the whole extent 
of the oppression ; and these penal laws, while they ope¬ 
rated as an insuperable bar to the advancement of the Ca¬ 
tholic, deeply affected the general interest of the Protes¬ 
tant. The impoverished tenant—the needy landlord—the 
unenterprising merchant—the idle artisan, could all trace 
the origin of their wants to the enactment of these sta¬ 
tutes. Profession was not permitted to engage the mind 
of youth, or education to cultivate his understanding. 
Dissolute habits, the certain result of idleness and illi¬ 
terateness, were consequently making a rapid progress in 
almost every class of society. The gentry were not 
exempt from the habits of the peasant; the spirit of in¬ 
dustry took her flight altogether from the island ; and, 
as the loss of commerce and constitution had no counter¬ 
acting advantages, every thing combined to reduce Ire¬ 
land to a state of the most general and unqualified 
depression. 

VI. It was about this period, when the short-sighted 
policy of the British Government had by its own arbi¬ 
trary proceedings planted the seeds of that political 
philosophy, afterwards so fatal to the most powerful 
monarchies of Europe, that Ireland began to feel herself 
affected by the struggles of America. The spirit of in¬ 
dependence had crossed the Atlantic, and the Irish 
people, awakened from a trance, beheld with anxiety the 
contest, in which they now began to feel an interest. 
They regarded with admiration the exertions of a colony 
combating for the first principles of civil liberty, and 
giving to the world an instructive lesson of fortitude and 
perseverance. 

Spread over a vast expanse of region, America, with¬ 
out wealth—without resources—without population— 
without fortresses—without allies—had every thing to 
contend with, and every thing to conquer. But freedom 



RISE AND FALL 


32 

was her call, and as if she had been designa ed by Pro> * 
dence for an example to the universe of what even 
powerless states can achieve by enthusiasm and unani - 
mity, her strength increased with her deprivations, and 
the firmness of one great and good man converted the 
feebleness of a colony into the power of an empire. 
Tiie defeats of Washington augmented his armies—his 
wants and necessities called forth his intellect—while his 
wisdom, firmness, and moderation, procured him power¬ 
ful friends, and secured him ultimate victory. The 
strength of Great Britain at length yielded to the vigor 
of his mind, and the unflinching fortitude of his people; 
and Lord Cornwallis, (the chosen instrument for op¬ 
pressing heroic nations,) by his defeat and his captivity, 
established the independence of America. The arrogance 
of England bowed its proud head to the shrine of liberty 
and her favorite general led back the relics of his con¬ 
quered army, to commemorate in the mother country 
the impotence of her power, and emancipation of her 
colonies. 

While these great events were gradually proceeding 
towards their final completion ; Ireland became e^very day 
a more anxious spectator of the arduous conflict—every 
incident in America began to communicate a sympathetic 
impulse to the Irish people :—the moment was critical:—• 
the nation became enlightened—a patriotic ardor took 
possession of her whole frame, and, before she had weli) 
considered the object of her solicitude, the spark of con¬ 
stitutional liberty had found its way into her bosom. 

The disposition of Ireland to avail herself of the circum¬ 
stances of those times, so favourable to the attainment of 
her rights, now openly avowed itself.* Her determination 
to claim her constitution from the British Government 
became unequivocal, and she began to assume the attitude 
and language of a nation “ entitled to independence” — 
The sound of arms and the voice of freedom echoed from 
every quarter of the Island—distinctions were forgotten, 
or disregarded—every rank, eve~y religion, alike caught 
the general feeling,—but firmness and discretion charac¬ 
terised her proceedings:—she gradually arose from torpor 
and obscurity—her native spirit drew aside the curtain, 
that had so long concealed her from the world ; and 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


33 


exhibited an armed and animated people, claiming their 
natural rights, and demanding their constitutional liberty. 

When the dawn of political liberty begins to diffuse 
itself over a nation, great and gifted characters suddenly 
spring up from among the people—animated by new 
subjects, their various talents and principles become 
developed—they interweave themselves with the evems 
of their country, become inseparable from its misfortunes, 
or identified with its prosperity. 

Ireland, at this era, possessed many men of superior 
capacities—some distinguished by their pure attachment 
to constitutional liberty—others by their slavish deference 
to ruling powers and patronizing authorities. Among 
those whom the spirit of these times called forth to public 
notice was seen one of the most bold and energetic leaders 
of modern days an anticipated knowledge of whose mark¬ 
ed and restless character is a necessary preface to a recital 
of Irish recurrences, in which the effects of his passions 
will be every where traced, and the mischievous errors of 
his judgment be perceived and lamented. 

VII. This person was John Fitzgibbon, afterwards Earl 
of Clare—Attorney General, and Lord High Chancellor 
of Ireland. His ascertained pedigree was short, though 
his name bespoke an early respectability. His grandfather 
was obscure—his father, intended for the profession of a 
Catholic pastor, but possessing a mind superior to the 
habits of monkish seclusion, procured himself to be called 
to the Irish bar, where his talents raised him to the 
highest estimation, and finally established him in fame 
and fortune. 

John Fitzgibbon. the second son of this man, was called 
to the bar in 1772. Naturally dissipated, he for some 
time attended but little to the duties of his profession; 
but on the death of his elder brother and his father, he 
found himself in possession of all those advantages, which 
led him rapidly forward to the extremity of his objects. 
Considerable fortune—professional talents—extensive 
connexions—and undismayed confidence, elevated him to 
those stations, on which he afterwards appeared so con¬ 
spicuously seated; while the historic eye, as it follows 
his career, perceives him lightly bounding over every 
obstacle, which checked his course, to that goal where all 


84 


RISE AND FALL 


the trophies and thorns of power were collected for his 
reception. 

In the Earl of Clare we find a man eminently gifted 
with talents adapted either for a blessing or a curse to 
the nation he inhabited; but early enveloped in high and 
dazzling authority, he lost his way; and considering his 
power as a victory, he ruled his country as a conquest:— 
indiscriminate in his friendships—and implacable in his 
animosities—he carried to the grave all the passions of 
his childhood. 

He hated powerful talents, because he feared them; 
and trampled on modest merit, because it was incapable 
of resistance. Authoritative and peremptory in his ad¬ 
dress ; commanding, able, and arrogant, in his language, 
a daring contempt for public opinion was the fatal principle 
which misguided his conduct; and Ireland became divided 
between the friends of his patronage—the slaves of his 
power—and the enemies to his tyranny. 

His character had no medium, his manners no medio¬ 
crity—the example of his extremes was adopted by his 
intimates, and excited in those who knew him feelings 
either of warm attachment, or of rivetted aversion. 

While he held the seals in Ireland, he united a vigorous 
capacity with the most striking errors: as a judge, he 
collected facts with a rapid precision, and decided on them 
with a prompt asperity: but he hated precedent, and 
despised the highest judicial authorities, because they 
were not his own. 

As a politician and a statesman, the character of Lord 
Clare is too well known, and its effects too generally 
experienced, to be mistaken or misrepresented—the era 
of his reign was the downfall of his country—his councils 
accelerated what his policy might have suppressed, and 
have marked the annals of Ireland with stains and mise¬ 
ries unequalled and indelible. 

In council,—rapid, peremptory, and overbearing—he 
regarded promptness of execution, rather than discretion 
of arrangement, and piqued himself more on expertness 
of thought than sobriety of judgment. Through all the 
calamities of Ireland, the mild voice of conciliation never 
escaped his lips; and when the torrent of civil war had 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


35 


subsided in his country, he held out no olive, to show that 
the deluge had receded. 

Acting upon a conviction, that his power was hut co¬ 
existent with the order of public establishments, and tne 
tenure of his office limited to the continuance of adminis¬ 
tration, he supported both with less prudence, and more 
desperation, than sound policy or an enlightened mind 
should permit or dictate; his extravagant doctrines of 
religious intolerance created the most mischievous pre¬ 
texts for his intemperance in upholding them; and, under 
colour of defending the principles of one revolution, he 
had nearly plunged the nation into all the miseries of 
another. 

His political conduct has been accounted uniform, but 
in detail it will be found to have been miserably incon¬ 
sistent. In 1781, he took up arms to obtain a declaration 
of Irish independence; in 1800, he recommended the 
introduction of a military force to assist in its extinguish¬ 
ment , he proclaimed Ireland a free nation in 1783, and 
argued that it should be a province in 1799; in 1782 lie 
called the acts of the British Legislature towards Ireland 
“ a daring usurpation on the rights of a free people”* 
and in 1800 he transferred Ireland to the usurper. On 
ail ocasions his ambition as despotically governed his 
politics, as his reason invariably sunk before his pre¬ 
judice. 

Though he intrinsically hated a Legislative Union, his 
lust for power induced him to support it; the preservation 
of office overcame the impulse of conviction, and he stre¬ 
nuously supported that measure, after having openly 
avowed himself its enemy: its completion, however, 
blasted his hopes, and hastened his dissolution. The 
restlessness of his habit, and the obtrusiveness of his dis¬ 
position, became insupportably embarrassing to the British 
cabinet—the danger of his talents as a minister, and the 
inadequacy of his judgment as a statesman, had been 
proved in Ireland : he had been a useful instrument in 
that country, but the same line of services which he per- 

* In his Lordship’s answer to the address of Dublin University, on the 
14th of April 1782, upon the declaration of rights, he used these word.-v 
and added, that “ he had uniformly expressed that opinion both in pu> 
lie and in private.” 


RISE AND FALL 


formed in Ireland, would have been ruinous to Great 
Britain, and Lord Clare was no longer consulted. 

The union at length effected through his friends, what 
Ireland could never accomplish through his enemies—his 
total overthrow. Unaccustomed to control, and unable 
icy submit, he returned to his country, weary, drooping, 
and disappointed; regretting what he had done, yet 
miserable that he could do no more: his importance had 
expired with the Irish Parliament, his patronage ceased 
to supply food for his ambition, the mind and the body 
became too sympathetic for existence, and he sunk into 
the grave, a conspicuous example of human talent and 
human frailty. 

In his person he was about the middle size, slight, anc] 
not graceful, his eyes, large, dark, and penetrating, 
betrayed some of the boldest traits of his uncommon 
character, his countenance, though expressive and manly, 
yet discovered nothing, which could deceive the physiog¬ 
nomist into an opinion of his magnanimity, or, call forth 
a eulogium on his virtues. 

During twenty momentous and eventful years, the life 
of Lord Clare is in fact the history of Ireland—as in 
romance some puissant and doughty chieftain appears 
prominent in every feat of chivalry—the champion in 
every strife—the hero of every encounter, and, after a life 
of toil and of battle, falls surrounded by a host of foes, a 
victim to his own ambition and temerity. 

Thus Earl Clare, throughout those eventful periods, 
will be seen bold, active and desperate, engaging fiercely 
in every important conflict of the Irish nation and at length 
after having sacrificed his country to his passions and his 
ambition, endeavouring to atone for his errors, by sacri¬ 
ficing himself. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


37 


CHAPTER II 

State of the Irish Parliament previous to 1779—Previous to 1780, occa¬ 
sional contests arose in the Irish Parliaments—The absentees—The 
Irish Bar—Its influence and Independence—Mr. Burgh Prime-Ser¬ 
geant—The Attorney-general—France assists America against Eng¬ 
land—France the champion of Liberty; England of Slavery—France 
threatens to invade Ireland—England prostrate and incapable of assist¬ 
ing Ireland—Moderation and patriotism of the Catholics—Character 
of the Irish people misrepresented and misunderstood in England— 
Irish character defamed by English writers—Character of the Irish 
peasant—Their undaunted courage—Attachment to their country— 
The Gentry — Romantic Chivalry of the Irish gentry — Suicide un¬ 
known in Ireland—Irish Peerage—Protestant Clergy—Catholic Cler¬ 
gy—Their conduct and manners 

I. The habits of commerce and the pursuits of avarice 
had not, at this period, absorbed the spirit or contracted 
the intellect of the Irish people. That vigorous compre¬ 
hensive, and pathetic eloquence, so peculiar to Ireland, 
which grasped at once the reason and the passions, still 
retained its ascendency at the bar, and its pre-eminence 
in the Senate : and the Commons’ House of Parliament, 
about the period of Lord Clare’s. first introduction into 
public notice, contained as much character, as much 
eloquence, and as much sincerity, as any popular assembly 
since the most brilliant era of the Roman republic. 

II. It might be reasonable to infer that a nation so 
long retained in the trammels of dependence, so habituated 
through successive generations, to control and to subject inn 
would have lost much of its natural energy, and more of 
its national feeling. But, though the Irish Parliament, 
pre vious to 1779, in general manifested strong indications 
of a declining and a subservient body, yet, even after 
centuries of depression, when roused by the sting of 
accumulating usurpation, its latent spirit occasionally 
burst forth, and should have convinced the British 
Government, that though the flame of liberty may be 
smothered, the- spark is unextinguishable. 

4 


38 


RISE AND FALL 


Although, bv the operation of Poyning’s .aw, the par 
liamentary discussions were generally restricted to loca. 
subjects and domestic arrangements, yet constitutional 
questions of a vital tendency incidentally occurred; ana 
the exercise of controling powers, assumed by the British 
Cabinet over the concerns of Ireland often afforded matter 
of serious controversy between the viceroy and the nation 
and had, in some instances, been resisted by the Parlia¬ 
ment with a warmth and a pertinacity which foretold a 
certainty of more important contests.* 

These struggles, however, although frequent, were 
fruitless. The country was not yet ripe for independence, 
constitutional freedom had been so long obsolete, that 
even its first principles were nearly forgotten, and the 
people were again to learn the rudiments, before they 
could speak the language of liberty. But the fortitude, 
the wisdom, and the perseverance of the Anglo-American 
colonies, the feebleness, the impolicy, and the divisions 

* On many occasions previous to 1779, the Irish Commons asserted 
their independent rights and privileges with great warmth, though some¬ 
times without success. In 1749, a redundancy of c£53,000 remaining 
in the Irish treasury—an unappropriated balance in favour of the nation, 
after paying all the establishments—the King sent over his letter to draw 
that sum to England, as a part of his hereditary revenue. But the Irish 
Parliament resisted the authority of his Majesty's letter, as an encroach 
ment on the distinctness and independence of Ireland; a part of tha< 
sum having arisen from additional duties imposed by her Parliament. 
The King consulted the English judges, who were of opinion that the 
King’s previous consent, was necessary to its appropriation; but the Irish 
Commons insisted on their right of appropriation, and asserted that hia 
Majesty’s subsequent assent only was necessary. This contest was 
warmly maintained until the year 1753, when the Irish Commons suc¬ 
ceeded in establishing their principle. 

The principles of Mr. Molyneux’s “ Case of Ireland published in 
1698, had never ceased to make a strong impression on the minds of the 
Irish people. The British ■ Parliament ordered it to be burned by the 
nands of the common executioner; but that measure defeated its own 
obicd, by greatly increasing its celebrity and circulation. The same 
principles were strongly inculcated, in several publications, by a very 
able writer, Doctor Charles Lucas, member for Dublin. For those wri¬ 
tings, he was expelled from the house; hut he afterwards resumed his 
seat wilh increased character and influence; and, to this day, his statue, 
in white marble, stands eminently conspicuous in the Royal Exchange 
at Dublin, as a monument of his steady patriotism. Before him. De-in 
Swift, whose name is still adored by the Irish, had employed his raa.y 
terly pen with powerful effect in fostering the spirit of independence. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


of Gieat Britain, soon taught Ireland the importance of 
the crisis; and by a firmness, a moderation, and an 
unanimity, unparalleled in the annals of revolution, the 
Irish Volunteers acquired for their country a civic crown, 
which nothing but the insanity of rebellion and the arti¬ 
fices and frauds of Union, could ever have torn from the 
brow of the Irish people. 

III. Absentees* who have ever been and ever wiL 
remain an obstacle to the substantial prosperity of Ireland 
exerted themselves more particularly at this period, in 
giving a strenuous and weighty opposition to every 
measure of innovation, they knew their Irish demesnes 
only by name and by income, they felt no interest but for 
their rents, and no patriotism but for the territory, alarmed 
at any legislative measure originating in Ireland. They 
showed themselves equally ignorant and regardless of 
her constitution, and ever proved themselves the steady 
adherents of the Minister for the time being; their proxies 
in the Lords, and their influence in the Commons, were 
transferred to him on a card or in a letter, and, on every 
division in both houses, almost invariably formed a 
phalanx against the true and genuine interest of the 
country. 

IV. However zealous and determined the incipient 
exertions of the Irish nation might have been, they would 
probably have been crushed and extinguished, had not a 
class of men, possessing the first talents in the senate and 
the highest confidence of the country, stepped boldly 
forward to support the people. In those days the Irish 
Bar, a body equally formidable to the Government by 
their character and their capacity, too independent to be 
restrained, and too proud to be m corrupted, comprised 
many sons of the resident noblemen and commoners ot 
Ireland. The legal science was at that time considered 
as part of an Irish gentleman’s education : the practice 
was then not a trade, but a profession. Eloquence was 
cultivated by its votaries, as a preparation for the higher 
duties of the senate, and, as almost every peer and every 

* The absentees of the present day annually draw from fre]and abova 
three millions sterling, to be expended in Great Britain. Some of the law 
offices of the greatest emolument, connected with the Irish courts of joa* 
cice, are now held by constant absentees. 


fO 


RISE AND FALL 


commoner had a relative enrolled among their nun her, 
so they had no interest in the conduct and honor of that 
department of society. The influence therefore of the 
bar as a body, increased by the general respect for the 
connexions and cultivated talents of its members, gave 
them an ascendency both in and out of Parliament, which 
could scarcely be counteracted, and, on certain trying 
occasions the conduct of some of the law-oflicers afforded 
experimental proof, that even they considered their offices 
as no longer tenable with advantage to the King, if the 
Minister should attempt to use them as instruments 
against the people. 

The rank and station of the law-officers of Ireland in 
those days were peculiarly dignified, and conveyed an 
impression of importance, which the modern degeneracy 
of talent and relaxation of wholesome forms and of dis¬ 
tinctions has altogether done away with.—The office of 
Prime Sergeant, then the first law-officer of Ireland, was 
filled at this period by one of the most amiable and elo¬ 
quent men that ever appeared on the stage of politics— 
Walter Hussey Burgh, whose conduct in a subsequent 
transaction rendered him justly celebrated and illustrious. 
This gentleman was then representative for Dublin Uni¬ 
versity ; in which office, he and M. Fitzgibbon were 
colleagues—men in whose public characters, scarcely a 
trait of similarity can be discovered. Mild, moderate, and 
patriotic, Mr. Burgh was proud without arrogance, and 
dignified without effort: equally attentive to public con¬ 
cerns and careless of his own. he had neither avarice to 
acquire wealth, nor parsimony to hoard it :—liberal, even 
to profusion—friendly, to a fault—and disinterested, to a 
weakness-—he was honest without affluence, and ambitious 
without corruption:—his eloquence was of the highest 
order—figurative, splendid, and convincing:—at the bar, 
in the Parliament, and among the people he was equally 
admired, and universally respected. 

But, when we compare Mr. Burgh with the then Attor¬ 
ney General of Ireland, who had been selected by Lord 
Townsend to bear down, if possible, the spirit of the 
country, the contrast may give a strong view of that 
policy, which falling ministers frequently and perhaps 
judiciously adopt, of endeavouring, if practicable, to enlist 


OF THTi IRISH NATION. 


4 


and seat upon their benches some popular and elevated 
personage of opposition, who. by his character, may give 
strength to the party which surrounds him, or at least 
may for ever prostrate his own reputation by the ur.popu¬ 
larity of the connection. 

Mr. John Scott, then Attorney General, and afterwards 
created Earl of Clonmel, and Chief Justice of Ireland, 
exhibited the most striking contrast to the character of 
the Prime Sergeant. Sprung from the humbler order of 
society, he adventured upon the world without any 
advantage, save the strength of his intellect and the 
versatility of his talents. He held his head high, his 
boldness was his first introduction, his policy, his ultimate 
preferment. Courageous,* humorous, artificial, he knew 
the world well, and he profited by that knowledge ; he 
cultivated the powerful; he bullied the timid, he fought 
the brave, he flattered the vain, he duped the credulous, 
and he amused the convivial. Half liked, half repro¬ 
bated, he was too high to be despised, and too low to be 
respected. His language was coarse, and his principles 
arbitrary: but his passions were his slaves, and his cun¬ 
ning was his instrument. He recollected favors received 
in his obscurity, and, in some instances, had gratitude to 
requite the obligation : but his avarice and his ostentation 
contended for the ascendency: their strife was perpetual, 
and their victories alternate. In public and in private, he 
was the same character ; and, though a most fortunate 
man and a successful courtier, he had scarcely a sincere 
friend, or a disinterested adherent. 

This marked contrariety in character and disposition, 
which distinguished those chief law-oflicers of government, 
was equally discernible in almost every other department: 
the virtues and the talents of Grattan, of Flood, of Yel- 
verton, of Daly, found their contrasts on the same 
benches; and these two distinguished characters are thus 
brought forward, by anticipation to show in the strongest 
point of view how powerful and insinuating the public 
feeling of that day must have been, that could finally 
draw together, in one common cause, personages su 


* His Lordship fought several duels before he was CbW Justice a 3 
the King’s Bench. The late Earl of LandafF, and the present Lord Tv 
rawly, were two of his antagonists. 

4 * 


42 


RISE AND PALL 


opposite and so adverse on almost every political objectj 
and in every national principal. 

The crisis, however, now approached, when Ireland 
was for a moment to rear her head among imperial 
nations: strange and unforseen events began to crowd 
the annals of the world,—the established axioms of general 
polity began to lose their weight among nations; and 
governments, widely wandering from the fundamental 
principles of their own constitutions, seemed carelessly 
travelling the road to anarchy and revolution. 

The rival powers of England and of France—ever 
jealous ever insincere—concluding deceptions negotia¬ 
tions by fallacious treaties—doubtful of each other’s 
honor, and dreading each other’s prowess—had long stood 
cautiously at bay—each watching for an unguarded open 
to give a mortal wound to her adversary—yet each 
dreading the consequences of an unsuccessful effort. 

However, the perseverance and successes of America 
communicated a stimulating impulse to the councils of 
the French King; and that ill-fated monarch, urged on 
to his destiny, determined to strike a deadly blow at the 
pride and the commerce of England, by giving an effec¬ 
tual aid to her revolted colonies. 

The question soon came to a speedy issue; an unde¬ 
cisive engagement with the French fleet in the Channel 
alarmed and irritated England; every prospect of accom¬ 
modation vanished; and a declaration of war was issued 
by the French Government, with a pompous manifesto 
proclaiming the wanton injuries they had sustained from 
Great Britain. 

Plunged into destructive warfare, each nation used 
their utmost efforts to accomplish their respective pur¬ 
poses. France^determined to establish the independence 
of America; while England, sought to reduce her colonies 
to the most decisive slavery. A transposition of national 
principles seemed to have been adopted by the Govern¬ 
ments of both countries—despotic France combating, to 
establish the rights of civil liberty—and England exerting 
all her energies, to enforce a system of tyrannic govern¬ 
ment—the one marshalling the slaves of her arbitrary 
power to battle in the cause of pure democracy—the 
other rallying round an English standard the hired mer- 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


43 


canaries of German avarice, to suppress the principles of 
British freedom—and both Governments soliciting the 
aid of sanguinary savages, to aggravate the horrors of a 
Christian war by the scalping-knife and the tomahawk 
of heathen murderers. 

Europe beheld with amazement a combat so unnatural 
and disgusting: but it would have required a prophetic 
spirit, to have then foretold that the French throne would 
be eventually overturned by the principles of those new 
allies, and would, by the mighty shock of its fall, shake 
even the foundations of the British constitution; though 
the total prostration of the one, and the ministerial 
inroads upon the other, would since have fully justified 
the hazard of that prediction. 

V. Amidst the confusion incident to those great events, 
Ireland yet remained unheeded and unthought of: her 
miseries and her oppressions had hardly engaged the 
consideration of the British minister. Meanwhile, the 
Irish people, with a dignified anxiety, contemplated the 
probable termination of a contest, by the result of which 
their own destiny must be determined. The subjugation 
of America might confirm the dependence of Ireland; 
and she was soon convinced,—that she could obtain her 
own constitutional rights from Great Britain only by the 
complete success and triumph of her colony. 

Awaiting therefore the decrees of Providence, Ireland 
steadily surveyed the distant prospect of great and rival 
empires wantonly lavishing the blood and treasures of 
their people in a contest fundamentally repugnant to their 
established principles: but—cautious, moderate, and firm 
in her conduct—though she wisely determined to avail 
herself of the crisis to promote the establishment of her 
independence,—she fed the flame of liberty, she kindled 
not the blaze of licentiousness: while America fought to 
obtain a separation from Great Britain, Ireland took up 
arms only to obtain a just participation of her constitution. 

To embarrass the offensive measures of England, and 
make a formidable diversion in favor of America, France 
manifested an intention of invading Ireland.—In this 
alarming emergency, Great Britain, from the dispersions 
of her military force, scattered into many distant stations 
of the world, and so numerously employed on the com 


14 


RISE AND FALL 


tinent of America, found it impossible to afford a body of 
regular troops sufficient to protect Ireland in case of 
such invasion. Here let us for a moment pause, and 
dispassionately reflect upon the situation of Great Britain 
and the conduct of Ireland at this most trying moment: 
let us survey the increasing imbecility of the one, and the 
rising enemies of the other; and we must—do justice 
to the moderation and generosity of a people, whose long 
and grievous oppressions, if they could not have justified, 
would at least have palliated, a very different proceeding. 

The state of England during this war became every 
day more difficult and distressing. A discontented people, 
and an unpopular ministry—an empty treasury, and a 
grievous taxation—a continental war, and a colonial 
rebellion—together formed an accumulation of embar¬ 
rassment, such as Great Britain had never before expe¬ 
rienced. Her forces in America were captured or 
defeated: her fleets, had not yet attained that irresistible 
superiority which has since proved the only protection of 
the British Islands.—Ireland, without money, militia, or 
standing army—without ordinance or fortifications— 
almost abandoned by England, had to depend solely on 
the spirit and resources of her own natives; and this 
critical state of Ireland, which the misconduct of Great 
Britain herself had occasioned, gave the first rise to those 
celebrated associations, the immediate mean* of obtaining 
Irish independence. 

Many inducements prevailed, to fill the ranks of these 
associations. The warlike propensities of the Irish people, 
so long restrained—and personal attachment to their 
chiefs and leaders, were with them the first excitements: 
but the blending of'ranks, and more intimate connexion 
of the people, which was the immediate consequence of a 
general military system, quickly effected an extensive and 
marked revolution in the minds and manners of the entire 
nation—an important and extraordinary change, of which 
the gradations became every day more conspicuously 
discernible. The primary stimulus of the Irish farmer 
was only that which he felt in common with every 
other animated being—the desire of self preservation:— 
he associated against invasion, because he heard that i| 
would be his ruin: but his intercourse with the higher 


OF THE IRISH NATION 


45 


ranks opened the road to better information. Tims he 
soon learned that the Irish people were deprived of poli¬ 
tical rights, and that his country had endured political 
injuries: his ideas became enlarged, and quickly embraced 
more numerous and prouder objects; he began, for the 
first time, to know his own importance to the state; and, 
as knowledge advanced, the principles of constitutional 
independence were better understood, and more sedulously 
cultivated. The Irish peasant now assumed a different 
rank, and a higher character *—familiarised with arms, 
and more intimate with ms superiors, he everyday felt 
his love of liberty increased: tiie spirit at length became 
general enthusiastic: and, in less time than could have 
been supposed from the commencement of these associa¬ 
tions, the whole surface of the island was seen covered 
with a self-raised host of patriot soldiers. 

VI. In the formation of those armed associations, the 
long-established distinctions between the Protestant and 
the Catholic could not be altogether forgotten. Many of 
the penal laws were still in full force; Catholics were 
prohibited by statute from bearing arms in Ireland ; and, 
from the rooted prejudices against allowing to that body 
any civil or military power whatever, strong objections 
arose to their admission into those armed bodies. The 
Catholics, however, neither took offence nor even showed 
any jealousy at this want of confidence, on the contrary, 
with their money and their exhortations, they zealously 
assisted in forwarding those very associations into which 
they themselves had not admission. Their calmness and 
their patriotism gained them many friends, and a relax¬ 
ation of intolerance appeared rapidly to be gaining ground 
but it was not until the volunteers had assumed a 
deliberative capacity, and met as armed citizens, to discuss 
political questions, that the necessity of uniting the whole 
population of the country in the cause of independence 
became distinctly obvious. Those who foresaw that a 
general association of the Irish people was essential to 
the attainment of their constitutional objects, endeavoured 
to reconcile the schisms of sectarian jealousy by calm and 
rational observations; they argued, that religious feuds 
had, in all countries, proved subversive of national pros¬ 
perity, but to none more decidedly fatal tiiau to modem 


46 


RISE AND FALL 


Ireland;—that the true interest of the Catholic and of 
the Protestant was substantially the same, they breathed 
the same air, tilled the same soil, and had equal lights 
and claims to the participation of liberty, that they were 
endowed by nature with equal powers and faculties, 
intellectual and corporeal, that they worshipped the same 
God, the truths and doctrines of revealed religion equally 
constituting the basis of their social duties, and the foun¬ 
dation of their religious tenets, and the principles of virtue 
and of morality being equally inculcated from their pulpits, 
and propagated at their altars. “ Why, then,” they asked, 
“should a few theological subtilties, whose mysterious 
uncertainties lay far beyond the reach of human determi¬ 
nation, and were altogether unnecessary to the arrange¬ 
ments of municipal institutions, why should they distract 
a nation which, tobecome/ree should become unanimous 1 
why should they excite controversies so strongly tainted 
with fanatic phrenzy, that no personal insult or aggravated 
injury, no breach of moral tie or of honorable contract, 
could rouse rancor more acrimonious, or animosity more 
unrelenting, than that which originated solely from 
theoretic distinctions upon inexplicable subjects? as if 
Irishmen were bound to promote the happiness of their 
neighbours in a future state, by destroying their comforts 
and disturbing their tranquillity in the present!” 

It was also observed, that,.although this strange insanity 
might have existed in remote and dark ages, when the 
disciples of every new sect proclaimed themselves the 
meritorious murderers of the old, when Christian chiefs 
assailed the pagan power, only to make new proselytes to 
their own errors, and victims to their own intolerance, and 
though, in such unhappy times, Ireland might have par¬ 
taken of the general madness, and, without peculiar 
disgrace, have participated in the infirmities of Europe, 
yet, when the progress of civilization had opened the eyes 
and enlarged the understanding of the people, when the 
voice of rational liberty loudly called for the unanimous 
exertion of every sect in the common cause of indepen¬ 
dence, it was full time to discard those destructive pre¬ 
judices, which had so long and so effectually restrained 
the rights and retarded the prosperity of the Irish nation. 

Nor can any historic incident more clearly illustrate 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


4 7 


inestimable value of unanimity to an oppressed people, 
than a contrasted exhibition of the independent spirit 
displayed by the Catholics in 1782, when they acquired a 
constitution by their firmness, and of their degenerate 
conduct in 1800, when they lost that constitution through 
their divisions and their servility. 

VI1. Before the progress of the Irish Volunteers is par¬ 
ticularly detailed, or the ultimate objects which they 
had in view, the genuine character of the people among 
whom so extraordinary an association originated, should 
be clearly developed and perfectly understood; as many 
important events in Irish history would appear obscure 
and unaccountable, without a due knowledge of the 
national character—a character, ever misconceived or 
misrepresented in England, because the persons by whom 
the picture was drawn were generally either too ignorant 
or two interested to draw it with fidelity, and so little of 
intimate intercourse had subsisted between the two 
countries, that the people of England were in general as 
unacquainted with the real dispositions and habits of the 
Irish, as with those of any nation upon the European 
continent. 

It was therefore impossible that England should judi¬ 
ciously govern a people with whose feelings she was wont 
to trifle, and with whose natural character she was so 
imperfectly acquainted, nor can she ever effectually 
acquire that knowledge, until she is convinced that Ireland 
though formed by nature for her sister, was never intend¬ 
ed for her servant —and that, within her own bosom, she 
possesses powers, treasures, and resources, yet unexplored 
by England, but which, if kindly cultivated and liberally 
encouraged, would contribute more strength and benefit 
to both than Great Britain has ever heretofore derived, or 
ever yet merited from the connexion. 

To attain a just conception of the remote causes of two 
great and repugnant revolutions in Ireland within eighteen 
years, we must view the ranks of which society is there 
composed, as well as their proportions and their influence 
on each other ; and, in the peculiarities and ardency o t 
that character, will be clearly discovered the. true sources 
of many extraordinary events; it will evidently appear, 
that, to the foibles of that unfortunate nation worked 


1.8 


RISE AND FAS.L, 


upon by art, and imposed upon by policy, and not to 
native crimes or peculiar views, are attributable the fre¬ 
quency of her miseries and the consummation of hei 
misfortune. 

YIII. The Irish people have been as little known, as 
diey have been grossly defamed to the rest of Europe. 

The lengths to which English writers have proceeded 
in pursuit of this object would surpass all belief, were not 
the facts proved by histories written under the immediate 
eye and sanction of Irish Governments, histories replete 
with falsehood, which, combined with the still more mis¬ 
chievous misrepresentations of modern writers, form all 
together a mass of the most cruel calumnies that ever 
weighed down the character of a meritorious people. 

This system, however, was not without its meaning. 
From the reign of Elizabeth, the policy of England has 
been to keep Ireland in a state of internal division perfect 
unanimity among her inhabitants has been considered as 
likely to give her a population and a power incomps tible 
with subjection, and there are not wanting natives of 
Ireland, who, impressed with that erroneous idea zealously 
plunge into the same doctrine, as if they could best prove 
their loyalty to the King by vilifying their country. 

IX. The Irish peasantry, who necessarily composed the 
great body of the population, combined in their character 
many of those singular and repugnant qualities which 
peculiarly designate the people of different nations ; and 
this remarkable contrariety of characteristic traits per¬ 
vaded almost the whole current of their natural dispo¬ 
sitions. Laborious, domestic, accustomed to wants in the 
midst of plenty, they submit to hardships without re¬ 
pining, and bear the severest privations with stoic jorti- 
tube. The sharpest wit, and the shrewdest subrilty, 
which abound in the character of the Irish peasant, 
generally lie concealed under the semblance of dulness, 
or the appearance of simplicity; and his language, re¬ 
plete with the keenest humour, possesses an idiom of 
equivocation, which never fails successfully to evade a 
direct answer to an unwelcome question. 

Inquisitive, artful, and penetrating, the Irish peasant 
learns mankind without extensive intercourse, and has an 
instinctive knowledge of the world, without mingling in 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


49 


its societies, and never, in any other instance did there 
exist a people who could display so much address and so 
much talent in the ordinary transactions of life as the 
Irish peasantry. 

The Irish peasant has, at all periods, been peculiarly 
distinguished for unbounded but indiscriminate hospital¬ 
ity, which, though naturally devoted to the necessities of 
a friend, is never denied by him even to the distresses of 
an enemy. * • To be in want or misery, is the best recom¬ 
mendation to his disinterested protection ; his food, his bed, 
his raiment are equally the strangers and his own ; and 
the deeper the distress, the more welcome is the sufferer 
to the peasant’s cottage. 

His attachments to his kindred are of the strongest 
nature. The social duties are intimately blended with the 
natural disposition of an Irish peasant though covered 
with rags, oppressed with poverty, and perhaps with 
hunger, the finest specimens of generosity and heroism 
are to be found in his unequalled character. 

A martial spirit and a love of desultory warfare is 
indigenous to the Irish people. Battle is their pastime ; 
whole parishes and districts form themselves into parties, 
which they denominate factions ; they meet by appoint¬ 
ment at their country fairs, there they quarrel without a 
cause, and fight without an object, and having indulged 
their propensity and bound up their wounds, they return 
satisfied to their own homes, generally without anger, and 
frequently in perfect friendship with each other.! It is a 

* It has been remarked that the English and Irish people form their 
judgment of strangers very differently:—an Englishman suspects a stran¬ 
ger to be a rogue, till he finds that he is an honest man; the Irishman 
conceives every person to be an honest man, till he finds him out to be a 
rogue; and this accounts for the very striking difference in their conduct 
and itospitality to strangers. 

f Natural cruelty has been imputed to the Irish peasant by persons 
wht either are unacquainted with his character, or wish to misrepresent 
it. National character can never be drawn with justice from incidents 
v/nieh take place amidst all the rage and violence of civil war or reli¬ 
gious phrensy. The barbarities, committed in Ireland during the insur¬ 
rection of 1798 , were not all on the one side : and at least as many per¬ 
sons were sacrificed in cold blood by the musket or sabre of the soldiery, 
as by the pike or blunderbuss of the insurgent. But all those enormities 
are incidental to civil wars, and should never be brought up as a crite¬ 
rion, whereby to judge of the national character of any people. In Eng* 



00 


RISE AND FALL 


melancholy reflection, that the successive Governments of 
Ireland should have been so long and so obstinately blind 
to the real interest of the country, as to conceive it more 
expedient to attempt the fruitless task of suppressing the 
national spirit by legal severity, and penal enactments 
than to adopt a system of national instruction and gen¬ 
eral industry which, by affording employment to their 
faculties, might give to the minds of the people a proper 
tendency, and a useful and peaceable direction. 

In general, the Irish are rather impetuously brave, than 
steadily persevering: their onsets are furious, and their re¬ 
treats precipitate : but even death has for them no terrors, 
when they firmly believe that their cause is meritorious. 
Though exquisitely artful in the stratagems of warfare, 
yet, when actually in battle, their discretion vanishes 
before their impetuosity; and—the most gregarious peo¬ 
ple under heaven—they rush forward in a crowd with 
tumultuous ardor, and without foresight or reflexion 
whether they are advancing to destruction or to victory. 

An enthusiastic attachment to the place of their nativity 
is another striking trait of the Irish character, which 
neither time nor absence, prosperity nor adversity, can 
obliterate or diminish. Wherever an Irish peasant was 
born, there he wishes to die; and, however successful in 
acquiring wealth or rank in distant places, he returns 
with fond affection to renew his intercourse with the 
friends and companions of his youth and his obscurity. 

An innate spirit of insubordination to the laws has been 
strongly charged upon the Irish peasantry: but a people— 
to whom the punishment of crimes appears rather as a 
sacrifice to revenge than a measure of prevention—can 
never have the same deference to the law, as those who 
are instructed in the principles of justice, and taught to 

land, during a peaceable year (1794,) two hundred and eighteen persons 
received sentence of death, of whom forty-four were for murder. In 
Ireland, during a troublesome year (1797,) eighty-seven received sen 
fence of death, of whom only eighteen were for murder: so that Eng 
land committed her full proportion of crimes and more than her piopor 
lion of murders; which does not substantiate the charge of cruelty, wit! 
which the Irish character has been exclusively aspersed. The murders 
in Ireland, moreover, are very different from those in England: many 
murders in Ireland occur in the heat of their battles: most of those jj 
England are perpetrated in cold blood and on women 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


51 


ognise its equality. It has, however, been uniformly 

fitted by every impartial writer on the affairs of Ire- 
lc nd, that a spirit of strict justice has ever characterised 
the Irish peasant.* Convince him, by plain and impartial 
reasoning, that he is wrong ; and he withdraws from the 
judgment-seat, if not with cheerfulness, at least with sub¬ 
mission : but, to make him respect the laws, he must be 
satisfied that they are impartial; and, with that conviction 
on his mind, the Irish peasant is as perfectly tractable, as 
the native of any other country in the world. 

An attachment to, and a respect for females is another 
marked characteristic of the Irish peasant. The wife 
partakes of ail her husband’s vicissitudes: she shares his 
labor and his miseries, with constancy and with affection. 
At all the sports and meetings of the Irish peasantry, the 
women are always of the company: they have a great 
influence ; and, in his smoky cottage, the Irish peasant, 
surrounded by his family, seems to forget all his privations. 
The natural cheerfulness of his disposition banishes 
reflexion ; and he experiences a simple happiness, which 
even the highest ranks of society might justly envy. 

X. The middle class of gentry, interspersed throughout 
the country parts of the kingdom, possessed as much of 
the peasant character as accorded with more liberal 
minds and superior society. With less necessity for ex¬ 
ertion than the peasant, and an equal inclination for the 
indulgence of indolence, their habits were altogether de¬ 
void of industry, and adverse to reflexion:—the morning 
chase and evening conviviality composed the diary of 
their lives, cherished the thoughtlessness of their nature, 
and banished the cares and solicitudes of foresight. They 
uniformly lived beyond their means, and aspired beyond 
their resources : pecuniary embarrassment only gave a 
new zest to the dissipation which created it; and the 
o-entrv of Ireland at this period had more troubles and 
fewer cares than any gentry in the universe. 

These habits, however, while they contracted the dis- 

* Sir John Davis, Attorney General of Ireland, who, in the reign ot 
James the First, was employed by the King to establish the English lawa 
throughout Ireland, and who made himself perfectly acquainted with the 
character of the inhabitants, admits that “ there were no people under 
heaven, who loved equal and impartial justice better than the Irish.” 


62 


RISE AND FALL 


tance between the lower and the superioi order, hi tec 
the effect of promoting their mutual good-will a. ad 
tachment to each other. The peasant looked up that d 
admired, in the country gentleman, those propensities 
which he himself possessed:—actuated by a native sym¬ 
pathy of disposition, he loved old customs; he liked to 
follow the track and example of his forefathers, and 
adhered to the fortunes of some ancient family, with a 
zealous sincerity ; and, in every matter of party or of 
faction, he obeyed the orders of his landlord, and even 
anticipated his wishes, with cheerfulness and humility. 

The Irish country gentleman, without either the ties 
of blood or the weight of feudal authority, found himself 
surrounded by followers and adherents ever ready to 
adopt his cause, and risk their lives for his purposes, 
with as warm devotion as those of the Scottish laird or 
the highland chieftain ; and this disposition, cultivated 
by family pride on the one side, and confirmed by imme¬ 
morial habit on the other, greatly promoted the formation, 
trie progress, and the zeal, of those armed associations 
which soon afterwards covered the face of the country, 
and for a moment placed the name of Ireland on the 
very highest pinnacle of affective patriotism. 

It was the fashion of those days to cast upon the Irish 
gentry an imputation, it would be uncandid not to admit 
that* there was some partial ground for it, that they 
showed a disposition to decide petty differences by the 
sword, and too fastidious a construction of what they 
termed the “ point of honor.” This practice certainly 
continued to prevail in many parts of Ireland, where 
time and general intercourse had not yet succeeded in ex¬ 
tinguishing the romantic but honorable spirit of Milesian 
chivalry : and, when we reflect on the natural warlike 
disposition of the Irish people, that indigenous impetuosity 
and love of battle which so eminently distinguished their 
aboriginal character, it is not surprising that hasty and 
unnecessary encounters should occasionally occur among 
a people perpetually actuated by the pride of ancestry 
and the theories of honor. But, even in these contests, 
the Irish gentleman forgave his adversary with as much 
readiness as he fought him: he respected the courage 
which aimed at his own life; and the strongest friendships 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


53 


were sometimes formed, and frequently regem stated, on 
the field of battle. It is natural to suppose that this 
practice should have been exaggerated, by the English 
people, whom nature had endowed with less punctilious 
and much more discreet propensities. 

The cowardly crime of suicide, which prevailed and 
prevails in England, was scarcely ever known among the 
Irish. Circumstances, which would plunge an English¬ 
man into a state of mortal despodency, would only rouse 
the energies of an Irishman to bound over his misfor¬ 
tunes under every pressure, in every station, and in 
1 every climate, a lightness of heart and openness of dis¬ 
position distinguishes him from the inhabitants of every 
I other country. 

On the whole of their characters, the Irish gentry, 
1 though far from being faultless, had many noble qualities; 
—generous, hospitable, friendly, brave—but careless, pro¬ 
digal, and indiscreet—they possessed the materials of 
distinguished men with the propensities of obscure ones, 
and, by their openness and sincerity, too frequently became 
the dupes of artifice, and the victims of dissimulation. 

Among the highest orders of the Irish people, the dis¬ 
tinguishing features of national character had been long 
wearing away, and becoming less prominent and remark¬ 
able. The manners of the nobility, in almost every 
European country, verge to one common centre: by the 
similarity of their education and society, they acquire 
similar habits; and a constant intercourse with courts 
clothes their address and language, as it does their per¬ 
sons, in one peculiar garb—disguising the strong points, 
and concealing the native traits, of their original characters. 

The unprecedented expenses of the American war, 
which first familiarised the English people to empty their 
purses for the support of unnecessary and inglorious 
warfare (in which they have since become such extra¬ 
ordinary proficients,) called every day for new resources; 

* The Irish people have been accused of frequently committing what 
are termed blunders, or perverted phraseology: but many sayings, which 
have acquired that name, are in fact the aphorisms of sound sense, and 
etrongwitted observation. The Irishman’s remark, that “ he would 
rather commit suicide on any one than himself would puzzle the inge¬ 
nuity of a moral casuist, and places the crime of self-murder in a very 
Uncertain ran^ of homkide. 


5’ 


54 


RISE ANI) FALL 


and the minister conceived and executed the artful project 
of increasing his financial means and parliamentary power 
by erecting a banking and commercial interest on the 
site and mins of the landed representation. Money bro¬ 
kers—began to constitute a new order in the state, and 
to form, if not an integral part, at least a necessary 
appendage to every subsequent administration of Great 
Britain. 

Experience has proved the mischiefs of that fatal policy 
to the whole of the empire. 

Though the greater number of the Irish noblemen 
had been of remote creations—a few had not been long 
enough removed from the mass of the community to have 
acquired very high ideas of hereditary pride, or to have 
emblazoned the shield of very ancient or illustrious 
pedigrees. 

As a body, the Irish lords were not peculiarly prominent 
in the affairs of their country: but they were dignified, 
Their debates (until the accession of Lord Clare) were 
calm and temperate; and, though, like the members of all 
other political assemblies, they were individually various in 
talent and in character, the appearance of the whole was 
grand; and their conduct, if not spirited, was firm, res¬ 
pectable and decorous. 

The Protestant church had great weight in the com¬ 
munity: the hierarchy, participating in the dignity of an 
independent parliament, possessed the united inkuence 
of spiritual rank and legislative importance: the parochial 
clergy, though well affected to the state, still adhered to 
the interests of their country, and, assuming a deportment 
decorous and characteristic, were, at that time, generally 
esteemed, and deservedly respected. 

The provision of the inferior Protestant clergy was 
then (as at present) quite disproportioned to their duties 
and their profession. Many of lhat meritorious class of 
men, the officiating curates, whose precepts and example 
were to direct the morals and guide the conduct of the 
people, had become grey in poveity, and, labouring under 
the pressure of severe necessities, effectually preached up 
to their congregations the exercise of that charity, which 
would have been aptly and benevolently applied to theii 
cwn persons. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


55 


The general conduct of these men had at all times 
remained unexceptionable. From them the character of 
the Irish clergy was best to be collected; the luxurious 
possessor of sinecure and plurality, enjoying ease and 
abundance without care or solicitude, must form a very 
inferior criterion of experienced merit, when compared to 
the distressed pastor, whose conduct remains exemplary, 
while his indigence and necessities might have tempted 
him into errors. The extremes of income among the 
Protestant clergy were too distant, their wealth and their 
poverty formed too strong a contrast. 

The Catholic clergy had then an unlimited influence 
over the people of their own persuasion. Though the 
cruel impolicy of the penal statutes had not been 
altogether set aside, they remained dutiful and obedient 
to the sovereign power, cheerfully submissive to the 
existing laws, and friendly and affectionate to their Pro¬ 
testant fellow-subjects. 

Candidates for Catholic ordination were sent to France 
for spiritual instruction, and returned to their own country, 
though learned, still retaining many of the propensities 
of their origin, they showed that their respect to supe¬ 
rior rank, and submission to the constituted authorities, 
were rather increased than diminished by their foreign 
education. 

The monarchy of France, despotic, splendid, and 
powerful, was at that time regarded with devotion bv the 
French people, as a structure which neither time could 
destroy, nor tempests endanger. Its broad base covered 
every portion of the people; its stupendous height was 
surveyed with awe, and its colossal strength beheld with 
admiration. The ecclesiastical communities, fostered 
under its shelter, experienced the protection of despotic 
power, and, by their doctrines and their practice endea¬ 
voured to increase its strength, and secure its perma¬ 
nence. 

The Irish student, early imbibing those monastic prin¬ 
ciples was taught at Saint Omer the advantages of unde¬ 
fined power in a king, and of passive obedience in a 
subject; he was there instructed to worship a throne, and 
to mingle his devotion to heaven and to monarchy. The 
restoration of a Catholic king over Ireland had long 


RISE AND FALL 


5 1 

censed to he practicable, such projects, therefore, were 
hopeless, and relinquished ; and the Irish Catholic clergy¬ 
man, however he might naturally have wished for the 
regal supremacy of his own sect, had long since abandon¬ 
ed every view of an object altogether unattainable. 

British supremacy had then no overt enemies, save its 
own ministers, nor any Conspiracies against its power, but 
ihe arbitrary determinations of its own cabinet. 

Thus returning from his noviciate, and educated with 
*11 the dispositions of a submissive subject he found his 
native country in a state of profound tranquillity. His 
views were contracted; his ambition extended no further 
than the affections of his flock, and the enjoyments of 
society. The closest intimacy subsisted between him and 
his parishioners, he mingled in all their pastimes, and 
consoled them in their miseries; but the most convivial 
among them knew how to distinguish clearly between the 
occasional familiarities of personal intercourse, and a 
dutiful respect for his religious functions; and, even 
though their companion might have been condemned, 
their priest was always sure to be respected. 

The Catholic and the Protestant at the same time 
lived in habits of great harmony; they harboured no 
animosities or indisposition toward each other; the 
one governed without opposition, the other submitted 
without resistance; and the Catholic clergy had e^ery 
inclination to retain their flock within proper limits and 
found no difficulty in effecting that object. 

The severity with which the agents of the Protestant 
clergy in some parishes collected their tithes, and the 
exactions and oppressions, which the middle-man exercised 
over the occupant of the land, occasionally excited 
partial disturbances; but, in these, there was nothing of 
a revolutionary nature; they were only the nocturnal 
riots of some oppressed and mismanaged districts which 
the civil power in general found no difficulty in sup* 
pressing. 


OF THE IRISH NATION, 


57 


CHAPTER III. 

Ireland awakened to a sense of her slavery—The Irish Parliament totally 
independent of England—The King acknowledged in Ireland through 
his Irish crown, and not through the crown of England—Perilous posi¬ 
tion of England—Moderation and attachment of Ireland—Ireland deter¬ 
mined to demand her just rights—Conspiracy against the manufactures 
of Ireland—The non-consumption agreement adopted throughout all 
Ireland—Progress of the Volunteers—Their principal Leaders—Sir 
John Parnell—His character—General effects of volunteering upon the 
people of Ireland. 

[. The population of Ireland, distributed into those 
classes, endowed with those qualities, and borne down by 
aii accumulation of impolitic and ungenerous restraints, 
at length awakened as it were from a deep trance. The 
pulse of that nation, torpid through habitual oppression, 
began to throb; her blood, stimulated by the stings of 
injustice, which she had so long and so patiently endured, 
circulated with a new rapidity; her heart, re-animated, 
sent motion and energy through her whole frame; and 
from a cold and almost lifeless corse, Ireland was seen 
majestically arising from the tomb of obscurity, and pay¬ 
ing the first tribute of her devotion at the shrine of 
liberty. 

Roused to a sense of her miserable situation, she cast 
her eyes around on the independent States of Europe, 
and compared their strength, their capacity, and their re¬ 
sources with her own. Encouraged by the view of her 
comparative superiority, she soon perceived that she had 
strength, and means, and opportunity to redress herself 
from the wrongs and degradations she was suffering; and 
that so long as she tolerated the authority of the British 
Legislature over her concerns, so long her commerce, her 
constitution, and her liberties, must lie prostrate at the 
foot of every British minister. 

The political situations of both nations at that critical 
period, afforded a more than common scope for political 


58 


RISE AND FALL 


contemplation: even the coldest politicians of that day 
were led involuntarily to reflect on the nature of the 
federative compact between the two countries, and could 
not avoid perceiving the total absence of that reciprocal 
good faith and confidence which alone could ensure the 
integrity of the empire, or the permanence of the con¬ 
nexion. In theory, the two nations were linked together 
by the strongest ties of mutual interest and mutual secu¬ 
rity ; but in practice those interests were separated, and 
that conjunction of strength, on which the security of 
empires must at all times depend was too frequently disre¬ 
garded, as if England had forgotten that she owed a great 
proportion of stability to the co-operation of the Irish 
people, and that if one hundred thousand Irish subjects, 
who fought her battles in her armies and in her navy, 
became even neutralized, by insults or by injuries, to 
their country, the English nation might too late discover 
the fatal impolicy of her system. 

II. The fundamental principles upon which the connex¬ 
ion between the two nations was intrinsically founded, 
soon became a subject of general inquiry and universal 
discussion amongst every rank and class of society; and 
it required but little difficulty to convey to the quick con¬ 
ception of a naturally acute and intelligent people, a 
comprehensive view of their rights and of their depriva¬ 
tions. Nor was Ireland, at this period, destitute of able 
and active partisans, anxious and competent to instruct 
her people in language best adapted to impress upon the 
poignancy of their national feelings, and enlarge the 
scope of their political understandings. 

They were told by those instructors, that Ireland was 
constitutionally connected with Great Britain, upon the 
basis of a complete equality of rights, that she possessed 
a resident Parliament of her own, competent, in all 
points, to legislate on her own concerns, in no point con¬ 
nected with , or subordinate to. that of Great Britain. 

That their king was bound to govern Ireland, not 
through his crown of England , but through his crown of 
Ireland —conferred upon him by the Irish nation, and 
worn by him, in conjunction with that of Great Britain, 
as the chief magistrate of both—tut to govern each 
country severally by their respective laws and their dis 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


59 


tinct legislatures, and not the one through the other; and 
though the Irish crown was, by the constitution of that 
country, placed ior ever on the head of the same legiti¬ 
mate monarch who should wear that of England; yet the 
Irish people were not legally bound to obey any laws but 
those enacted by their own legislature, to transfer the 
sceptre of their realm to any usurped authority, or sub¬ 
mit to the hostile or corrupt policy of any minister who 
might occasionally occupy the seat of power in England; 
that their oath of allegiance was taken to the king of Ire¬ 
land, and not to the Parliament of Great Britain; that 
the establishment of this principle was indispensable to 
their existence as a nation, and that every violation of it 
was a direct deviation from the duty of the Irish crown, 
and a virtual dereliction of the compact between the two 
countries; and that the king’s ministers of either country 
advising unconstitutional measures, to violate the consti¬ 
tutional independence of Ireland, must be considered as 
traitors to the Irish crown, and enemies to the British 
empire. 

It was-also observed, that this assumption of authority 
to legislate for Ireland, whatever colouring it might have 
received by the dissimulation or ingenuity of its support¬ 
ers, had, in fact, for its real object the restraint of her 
commerce and the suppression of her manufactures, so 
far as they might interfere with the interests of England ; 
because the management of the mere local concerns of 
Ireland by her own parliament was altogether immaterial 
to Great Britain, unless where a commercial rivalship 
might be the probable consequence of successful industry 
and legislative encouragement. 

From this reasoning, it was obvious that the redress of 
these grievances could not depend solely upon any exer¬ 
tions of the Irish legislature. The Peers—from the 
causes herein before assigned—were influenced at that 
time by a very small portion of public feeling; the 
measures of the Commons might be suppressed by an act 
of the Privy Council; and it hp^ame manifest, that an 
universal and determined co-operation f>1 p whole people 
with their representatives, to rescue their repr.^p’nation, 
by vigorous measures, could alone operate with sufficient 
effect upon the policy and fears of England ? and that a 


50 


RISE AND FALL 


general appeal to the people would be jiu lifted by the 
soundest axioms of civil government—as long experience 
had fully ascertained, that nothing was to be gained by 
the forbearance of the one nation, or to be expected from 
the voluntary justice of the other. . 

The Irish people being thus apprised of the real source 
of all their grievances, the subject quickly engrossed their 
whole thoughts, and became familiar to their understand¬ 
ings. A new and broad field of reflection was opened to 
the middle orders : political discussions necessarily fol¬ 
lowed from day to day; at every public and private meet¬ 
ing, and in every district, these discussions turned on the 
principles of liberty: and as the subject expanded, their 
ideas became enlarged ; those who could read, liberally 
instructed the illiterate as to the rudiments of their his¬ 
tory and the rights of the constitution ; and by familiar 
deductions, the misery of the peasant was without diffi¬ 
culty brought home to the corruption of the ministers. 
All ranks of the community began to mingle and con¬ 
verse at their public meetings ; the influence of that 
general communication diffused itself rapidly amongst 
every class of society ; and the people, after having per¬ 
fectly ascertained the hardships of their situation, natu¬ 
rally proceeded to discuss the most decisive means of re¬ 
dressing their grievances. 

III. The circumstances of public affairs in America 
and on the continent of Europe, but more especially in 
England herself, were every moment becoming more and 
more propitious to the political emancipation of Ireland. 
A dark cloud appeared collecting over the head of Great 
Britain—the rays of her setting sun could scarcely pene¬ 
trate the obscurity of the gloom which surrounded her— 
and though she faced the impending hurricane with 
magnanimity and perseverance, she experienced a most 
anxious solicitude at the awful crisis which was rapid!) 
approaching her. 

Her situation was terrific. The States of America, 
colonised by her industry, and peopled by her convicts 
tearing themselves away from the mothe] country, and 
appealing to the whole world against the tyranny which 
at once had caused and justified her disobedience, 
British armies wandering through boundless deserts, and 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


61 


associating with the savage tribes for savage purposes, 
dwindling by their victories, and diminishine by their 
sonquests, surrendering their swords to those whom 
they had recently vanquished, and lowering the flag of 
England, with all the courtesies of continental warfare, 
to those very men whom the preceding moment they 
had proclaimed as traitors to their king and to theii 
country.* 

However, the wise and deliberate measures which 
Ireland on this occasion adopted, proved not only her 
unshaken fidelity, but her moderation and hei unaffected 
attachment to Great Britain. She saw the perilous situ¬ 
ation of her sister country; and though she determined 
to profit by the crisis, in justly reclaiming her commerce 
and her constitution, she also determined to stand or fal 
with the British empire, and to share the fate of England 
in the tremendous confederacies which were formed and 
were forming against her. 

* The very different line of conduct adopted by England towards 
America and Ireland, when respectively in a state of insurrection, is 
very remarkable. The Americans (a mere colony) united with French 
tioops, stood in open rebellion, for the avowed purpose of final separa¬ 
tion from the mother country, and were proclaimed traitors and rebels by 
the King and Parliament; yet they uniformly experienced from the Bri¬ 
tish military commanders the most decorous and respectful treatment. 
Their generals were addressed by their appropriate official 'titles—theii 
military rank was recognized by the British army—their officers, when 
taken, were admitted on their parol of honour—and their prisoners were 
treated with humanity and attention. 

The Irish experienced a very different conduct in 1798, when imme¬ 
diate execution was generally the gentlest punishment inflicted upon the 
insurgents of every rank, office, and description, and tiie laws of retalia¬ 
tion giving rise to a competition of barbarities, deluged the whole country 
in blood, extinguished its spirit, divided its people, and destroyed its 
reputation 

To persons unacquainted with the true history of those transactions, 
and the project of the British minister, the ambiguous conduct of Lord 
Cornwallis will appear altogether inconsistent and unaccountable. But 
the difficulty will be solved, when it becomes evident, from historic facts, 
that, without that general horror, depression, and dismay which the 
extent and continuance of those mutual barbarities had excited through¬ 
out all ranks and classes of people, the measure of a Legislative Union 
never durst have been proposed to Ireland, and tha‘ this terrific sensa¬ 
tion was critically made use of, as the strongest instrument, to impose 
that measure on a people sunk under the lassitude of civil war, and while 
in search of peace, forgetting liberty 

6 


RISE AND FALL 


The Irish people felt that they had a double duty to 
perform—to themselves, and to their posterity. England 
herself had given them a precedent. She had proved by 
the experience of centuries, that when she had an object 
to achieve in Ireland, she had never been restrained by 
the punctilious dictates either of honour or humanity, and 
had never failed to take advantage of the feebleness of 
Ireland to impose the grievous weight of her arbitrary 
restrictions ; she had, at all periods, systematically en¬ 
couraged the internal dissensions of that people, the 
better to humble them for the yoke which she had al¬ 
ways been ready to place upon their country. Ireland, 
therefore, felt that she would be justified by British pre¬ 
cedent to take advantage of this important crisis, and that 
even the practical principles of the British constitution 
had declared and justified the right of popular resistance. 
England had, upon the same principle of resistance to 
arbitrary power, attempted to justify the murder of one 
king, and the deposition of another, whilst Ireland, pre¬ 
ferring her allegiance to her policy, remained faithful tc 
both, and was rewarded for her loyalty by massacre and 
confiscation. 

However, a hasty or impetuous resistance of the Irish 
people, even to the most arbitrary acts of their King 01 
of their. Government, was by no means a principle con¬ 
genial tu their political character; whilst it was obvious 
to the whole world that England had adopted those 
violent and outrageous proceedings against her own 
monarchy* upon principles and pretences far less con¬ 
stitutional, and more inconsistent with her liberties, than 
the measures and conduct which had been wantonly and 
systematically practised by British ministers against Irish 
freedom. With this useful and awful lesson before her 
eyes, Ireland wisely considered that she would best raise 
and establish her national character, and effect her just 
objects, by a gradual reassumption of her rights, and a 
temperate and fair demand of constitutional liberty ; that 
her moderation would form an edifying contrast to the 
violence and intemperance of England, whenever her 
liberties were invaded, and that the advantage which the 
embarrassed state of Great Britain had now thrown into 
the hands of Ireland, would be most honourably exer- 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


cised by a calm and loyal, but resolute and effectual 
proceeding. She perceived, however, that the moment 
most favourable to her objects had arrived ; which, if 
suffered to pass by without effort, might never recur; 
and it therefore only remained to Ireland to ascertain the 
means most moderate but most likely to call Great Bri¬ 
tain to a sense of reason and of justice, and to secure to 
herself the attainment of her rights, without the danger 
of hostile convulsion, or the horrors of civil conflict. 

England, notwithstanding she had in some instances 
suspended, and in others prohibited, the exportation of 
Irish manufactures, inundated the Irish markets with 
every species of her own ; and with a view effectually to 
destroy all power of competition in Ireland, the great 
capitalists of England determined, even at any loss, to 
undersell the Irish in their own markets—a loss, how¬ 
ever which they thought would be eventually and amply 
repaid by the monopoly which must necessarily succeed 
the utter destruction of the Irish manufacture. 

This system it was impossible for the Irish manufac¬ 
turer to resist or counteract; his capital was too small 
to bear the losses of competition ; resistance would have 
been vain ; he had therefore no alternative but to change 
his trade, or submit, and famish. 

It depended on the exertions of the people at large to 
resist every vicious and destructive project; and they 
lost no time in adopting incipient measures of resistance. 
With this view, they resolutely determined to adopt a non¬ 
importation and non-consumption agreement through¬ 
out the whole kingdom ; and by excluding not only the 
importation, but the consumption of any British manu¬ 
facture in Ireland, visited back upon the English combi- 
nators the ruin of their own treachery. No sooner was 
this measure publicly proposed, than it was universally 
adopted; it flew quicker than the wind throughout the 
whole nation : the manufacturing bodies, the corporate 
towns, the small retailers, the general merchants, at once 
universally adopted this vigorous determination, and the 
great body of the people, by general resolutions, and uni¬ 
versal acclamations, avowed their jinn determination to 
support the measure, till they should acquire a restoration 
of their political rights. 


64 


RISE AND FALL 


IV. Meanwhile, the armed associations hourly gained 
strength in numbers; they began to acquire the appen¬ 
dages and establishments of a regular army—discipline 
and confidence ; and gradually consolidated themselves 
into regiments and brigades ; some procured cannon and 
field equipages, and formed companies of artillery; the 
completion of one corps stimulated the formation of 
another, and at length almost every independent Pro¬ 
testant of Ireland was enrolled as a patriot soldier ; and 
tils whole body of the Catholics declared themselves the 
decided auxiliaries of their armed countrymen. 

This extraordinary armament—the recollections of 
which will for ever excite in Ireland a devotion to the 
cause of liberty, which neither time can. efface nor mis¬ 
fortunes extinguish—actuated solely by the pure spirit of 
incorruptible patriotism, and signalized by a conduct 
more temperate and more judicious, than had ever con¬ 
trolled the acts and objects of any military body in the 
history of the world. 

The modern military corps, which have been skilfully, 
and perhaps wisely, imbodied, to preclude any recur¬ 
rence to the measure of volunteering, possess no analogy 
to these celebrated associations, save that the loyalty of 
the Volunteers was to their country and their King —the 
loyalty of the Yeomen, to the King of England and to 
his Ministers. 

Self-formed, and self-governed, the Volunteers accepted 
no commissions whatever from the Crown, and acknow¬ 
ledged no connection whatever with the Government; 
the private men appointed their own officers, and occa¬ 
sionally cashiered them for misconduct or incapacity ; 
they accepted no pay, the more wealthy soldier cheer ¬ 
fully shared his funds with his poorer comrade—and the 
officers contributed their proportions to the general stock 
purse. 

Yet notwithstanding this perverted state of all military 
establishments, their subordination was complete : the 
soldier obeyed, from the instinctive impulse of honour 
to himself and duty to his country ; the officer com¬ 
manded upon the same principle, and very few instances 
occurred where either were found to deviate from the 
straightest line of military rectitude. The rules of dis» 



OF THE IRISH NATION. 


65 


cipline were adopted by general assent, and that passive 
obedience which, in regular armies, is enforced by punish¬ 
ment, amongst the Volunteers of Ireland was effected by 
honour. 

They assumed various uniforms ; green, white, scailet, 
or blue, were the prevailing colours.* Their line, there¬ 
fore, appeared variegated, and peculiarly striking. Their 
arms were at first provided by themselves; but the ex¬ 
traordinary increase of their numbers rendered them at 
length unable to procure a sufficient supply by purchase: 
they had then but one course—they confidently required 
arms from the Government; the Government, whatever 
reluctance they might have felt to arm men who acknow¬ 
ledged no supremacy, yet did not think it safe to refuse 
their demand; and with an averted eye handed out to 
the Volunteers twenty thousand stand of arms from the 
Castle of Dublin. 

V. Being completely equipped, the acquirement of 
persons capable of instructing so large a body in military 
tactics, appeared a matter of the greatest difficulty; but 
the same events which had at first inspired the Irish 
with a determination to arm, furnished them with the 
means not only of acquiring discipline, but of increasing 
their ardour. 

The disasters of the American war had restored to the 
bosom of Ireland many brave men, whose health had 
sunk under the consequences of wounds and sufferings, 
and who, having witnessed the successful struggles of 
America for liberty, had returned to Ireland at that 
moment when she was critically preparing to assert her 
own. The association of these experienced veterans was 
sedulously courted by the Irish Volunteers; their orders 

* The Lawyer’s regiment of Volunteers adopted exactly the uniform 
of the King’s Guards—their motto, “ Pro avis et focis” The Kilkenny 
regiment (the late Earl of Ormond’s,) and the regiments of Irish Bri¬ 
gades, &c., wore green; the motto of the latter, “ Vox populi suprema 
lex est.” During the continuance of the Volunteer corps, no other police 
whatever was necessary throughout the whole nation—no public delin¬ 
quent could possibly escape apprehension—and the most perfect peace 
and tranquillity prevailed throughout every county and district in Ireland; 
the Volunteers exerted themselves in every department, as the preser¬ 
vers of public peace, and with an effect never known at any former « 
'ater period in that country. 


6' 


RISE AND FALL 


6* 


were obeyed with confidence and aiacrity, and amongst 
the country corps the effect of their instructions became 
suddenly conspicuous; and, under their experience, dis¬ 
cipline advanced with rapid progress. 

The intercourse and conversation of those persons also 
had a powerful effect, by transfusing into their pupils 
that military mind which a veteran soldier can never 
relinquish. In their convivial hours, the serjeant, sur¬ 
rounded by his company, expatiating on the events of 
actual service, and introducing episodes of individual 
bravery, perhaps of his own undauntedness and sagacity, 
gradually banished every other topic from their conver¬ 
sation at those meetings. The successful perseverance 
of America had impressed even the soldier himself who 
had fought against her, with an involuntary respect for 
the principles of his enemies; a constant intercourse 
with his Irish associates soon excited in him congenial 
feelings, and he began to listen with pleasure to their 
interesting question, “Why should not his own brave 
countrymen possess as much constitutional liberty as 
those foreign colonists who had conquered him ? ” 

It is difficult to conceive the fascination which seized 
upon the heretofore contracted intellect of the military 
farmer, by a repetition of these novel and warlike sub¬ 
jects; the martial propensity of his innate character had 
already rendered him peculiarly susceptible of these ani¬ 
mating impressions, and he now almost imperceptibly 
imbibed a military mind, and acquired a soldier’s feeling. 
In a word, the whole nation became enamoured of arms, 
and those who were not permitted to bear them, consi¬ 
dered themselves as honoured by being employed to 
carry the food and ammunition of the soldier. 

The chief commanders of these armed bodies were 
men of the highest and most distinguished characters, 
and each corps was in general headed by persons of* the 
first respectability in their respective districts, selected 
generally for their popularity and independence; but all 
these corps were, for a considarable time, totally distinct 
and unconnected; nor was it until they had formed into 
a consolidated column, under the command of the amia 
ble and the illustrious Charlemont, that they acquiree 
the irresistible impulse of a co-operating power. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


67 


mild, but determined patriotism of that respected noble¬ 
man, gave a new tint of character to the whole army 
which he commanded, and chased away the tongue of 
slander from their objects and their conduct. 

In the number of those who, at this moment were 
launched, for the first time, into public observation, 
there appeared a person, who, without possessing the 
highest reputation for public talent, or the most unde- 
viating line of public principle, by the honest and spi¬ 
rited termination of his political life, has been justly 
raised upon the elevated pedestal of national gratitude; 
a person, whose early appointment to the first financial 
department of Ireland, and whose official conduct, from 
that day to the catastrophe of Irish Parliaments, will 
necessarily be the subject of frequent and important 
observations, and authorizes an introduction of his name 
and character, at an earlier stage of this history, than 
would otherwise be consistent with the regular detail of 
a progressive narrative. 

VI. Sir John Parnel, the commandant of a Volunteei 
association,* was the son of a crafty and prudent minor 
politician (Sir John Parnel, of Rathlegue, in the Queen’s 
County.) and was educated with a view to a diplomatic 
situation; but on his return from the Continent, was 
found by his father too deficient in the necessary attain¬ 
ments of evasion and duplicity, to qualify him for the 
high departments of foreign diplomacy: his talents, 
therefore, became destined for home consumption, and 
by the intrigues of his father, and a forced exertion of 
his own abilities, he was soon noticed in the Irish Par¬ 
liament as a person of more than ordinary capacity—and 
after a veering course of local politics, he was appointed 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. In that situation he con 
tinued, till the project of a union called forth the public 
viitues of every man who possessed any, and too late 
opened the eyes of the nation to its steady friends, and 
to its temporizing enemies. 

Sir John Parnel had an eminent capacity for public 
business, but a lamentable deficiency of system in its 
arrangement. His strong mind and cultivated under¬ 
standing lost much of their effect by the flurry of Ilia 

* The Maryborough Volunteers. 


RISE AND FALL 


manner, which frequently impeded the perspicijty of 
his language. 

His intellect was clear, his memory retentive, and his 
conception just; he possessed esteem, without an effort 
to obtain it, and preserved his friends, without exercising 
his patronage; he supported the Ministry without offend¬ 
ing the opposition, and all parties united in calling him 
an honourable man. 

Plain, frank, cheerful and convivial, he generally pre¬ 
ferred society to trouble, and seemed to have rid himself 
of a weight when he had executed a duty. As a finan¬ 
cier, he was not perfect—as a statesman, he was not 
deep—as a courtier, he was not polished—but as an 
officer, he was not corrupt; and though many years in 
possession of high office, and extensive patronage, he 
showed a disinterestedness almost unparalleled ; and the 
name of a relative, or of a dependent, of his own, 
scarcely in a single instance increased the place or the 
pension lists of Ireland. 

Though his education and habits were ministerial, his 
mind was intrinsically patriotic, and a sentiment of inde¬ 
pendent spirit not unfrequently burst out from under the 
pressure of that official restriction which the duties of 
his station had necessarily imposed upon him ; but his 
appointme'"* as a minister never induced him to forget 
his birth as » r * Irishman; and his attachment to the sove¬ 
reign, never diminished his philanthropy to the subject. 

After an honest, faithful, and zealous service of his 
king, for seventeen years—as Chancellor of the Irish 
Exchequer—he was called upon by the minister to sacri¬ 
fice his principles, and betray his country—to efface the 
impressions of his youth, and tarnish the honour of his 
maturity—to violate his faith, and falsify his conviction; 
but the fetters of office could not restrain the spirit of 
its captive: he lost his station, but he retained his inte¬ 
grity, and was compensated for the consequences of an 
undeserved dismissal, by the approbation of his con¬ 
science and the affection of his country. 

The Volunteer corps which he commanded, early and 
zealously adopted the cause of Irish independence—a 
cause he strenuously adhered to, to the last moment of 
his existence—and in that noble firmness with which he 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


69 


resisted a legislative union, and disobeyed the mandates 
of' a crafty and vindictive viceroy; he has left to the 
present age a brilliant and a rare example of a minister, 
honest enough to prefer his character to his office, and 
proud enough to postpone his interest to his honour. 

VII. The Volunteer system now becoming universal 
in Ireland, effected an important and visible change in 
the minds and manners of the middle and lower orders 
of the people ; by the occurrence of new events, and the 
promulgation of novel principles, their natural character 
became affected in all its bearings, and acquired, or 
rather disclosed, new points, which at that period tended 
to promote their prosperity, but eventually formed the 
grand pretence for the extinguishment of their inde¬ 
pendence. 

The familiar association of all ranks, which the nature 
of their new military connection necessarily occasioned, 
every day lessened that wide distinction, which had 
theretofore separated the higher and lower orders of 
society—the landlord and the tenant—the nobleman and 
the artisan—the general and the soldier—now, for the 
first time, sat down at the same board—shared the same 
fare—and enjoyed the same conviviality. The lower 
order learned their own weight in the community—the 
higher were taught their dependance upon the people— 
and those whose illiterate minds had never before con¬ 
ceived or thought on the nature of political constitutions, 
or the fundamental principles of civil government, now 
learned from the intercourse and conversation of their 
superiors, the rudiments of that complicated but noble 
science; the misconception and the abuse of which, has 
since become the severest scourge that ever afflicted the 
states of Europe. 

A visible alteration was also soon observable in the 
general appearance of the people; the squalid garb and 
careless dress of the Irish farmer was now exchanged 
for the minute cleanliness and regularity of the soldier. 
A striking revolution took place not only in the minds, 
but also in the external appearance of the Irish; theii 
intellect acquired strength by exercise and information— 
their addresr was improved by intercourse and disci¬ 
pline—and their general appearance by dress and regu* 


RISE AND FALJL 


to 


iarity ; and had not the same causes, which led to the 
concessions of 1782, induced the British Government to 
recall that constitution which had been wrested from its 
feebleness, these unparalleled associations would have 
conferred advantages on the country, beyond all mea¬ 
sures which human wisdom could have suggested, for its 
improvement. 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


CHAPTER IV. 

Unexpected events in the Irish House of Commons—Mr. Grattan** 
Amendment to the Address—His public character and vicissitudes— 
The Amendment—Its effects—Sir Henry Cavendish—His character— 
Mr. Hussey Burgh (the Prime-Sergeant) secedes from Government 
and substitutes an Amendment for Mr. Grattan’s—the Amendment 
passed—First step towards Irish independence—The English Parlia¬ 
ment callous to the wrongs of Ireland—Lord Shelburne and Lord 
Ossory propose resolutions—The Irish nation determined to assert its 
rights—Resolution for a free trade carried unanimously—This circum¬ 
stance one of the remote causes of the Union—Rapid progress of th« 
Volunteers—Extraordinary military honours paid to the Duke of 
Leinster—Attempts to seduce the Volunteers—Earl of Charlemont— 
His character. 

I. While those transactions were taking place throughout 
the countiy, a memorable and unexpected event occurred 
in the Irish Parliament. 

The sessions of 1779-80 commenced with a scene 
which while it elevated the Irish people to the height of 
expectation, and inspired them with a new confidence, 
paralyzed the British Government, and for the first 
moment, made known decidedly to the councils of that 
country, that they had no longer to deal with a timid, 
dispirited, and unprotected nation. 

The adoption of non-importation and non-consumption 
agreements had already created considerable anxiety in 
the British Minister as to the probable result of the ensuing 
Session, and the Lord Lieutenant was directed to open 
the Parliament with a speech, remotely alluding to his 
Majesty’s sentiments of liberality, but without specifying 
any measure of concession, and so cautiously guarded, 
as neither to alarm the Public, nor commit the Govern¬ 
ment, but the days of insipidity had now passed away; 
the Viceroy’s speeches from the throne, for almost a 
century, had been composed nearly in the same common¬ 
place language and trite observation, and the addresses 
of both Houses, in reply to those speeches, had been 


72 


RISE AND FALL 


almost invariably mere echoes of the speech itself, with 
general assurances of hberal supplies and increasing 
loyalty. 

On the opening of this Session, however, there appeared 
a more than common sensation amongst the leading 
members of Parliament, the strong and animated declara¬ 
tions of public sentiment which had been published during 
the prorogation, made an extraordinary impression, but 
the extent or consequences of that impression could not 
be ascertained, until the proceedings of the House ot 
Commons gave an opportunity of observing what effect 
the new spirit of the people would now have upon the 
conduct of their representatives. 

At length the Parliament assembled ; the anxious and 
inquisitive eye of the Secretary and of the steady partisans 
of Government passed rapidly throughout the whole 
House alarmed by the appearance of some unusual re¬ 
sistance, they endeavoured, from the looks, the sugges¬ 
tions, the manner of the members, to prejudge the result 
of the first night’s debate, which had generally decided 
the complexion of the ensuing session, but no sagacity 
could have anticipated the turn which Irish affairs were 
to receive on that night—no human foresight could have 
predicted that blow which the system of the British 
Cabinet was about to receive by one single sentence— 
or have foreseen that that single sentence would be 
the composition of the first law-officer of the Irish Gov¬ 
ernment. 

The Lord Lieutenant’s speech was delivered by him, 
in the House of Loid’s in the accustomed tone of confi¬ 
dence, ambiguity, and frivolous recommendations ; and 
in the Commons, the usual echo and adulatory address 
was moved by Sir Robert Deane, a person completely 
devoted to the views of Government. A pause succeeded 
and an unusual communication was perceivable between 
several members on the Government and Opposition 
sides of the House. A decided resistance to the usual 
qualified address now became certain ; the Secretary, 
moving irresolutely from place to place, was seen endea¬ 
vouring to collect the individual opinions of the members 
—and the law-officers of the Crown evinced a diffidence 
never before observable in their department; throughout 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


73 


the whole House a new sense of expectation and anxiety 
was evident. 

II. At length Mr. Henry Grattan arose, with a some¬ 
what more than usual solemnity;—he seemed labouring 
with his own thoughts, and preparing his mind for a more 
than ordinary exertion. The address and the language 
of this extraordinary man were perfectly original; from 
his first essay in Parliament, a strong sensation had been 
excited by the point and eccentricity of his powerful 
eloquence;—nor was it long until those transcendent 
talents, which afterwards distinguished this celebrated 
personage—were perceived rising above ordinary capa¬ 
cities, and, as a charm, communicating to his countrymen 
that energy, that patriotism, and that perseverance, for 
which he himself became so eminently distinguished; 
his action, his tone, his elocution in public speaking, bore 
no resemblance to that of any other person ; the flights 
of genius, the arrangements of composition, and the solid 
strength of connected reasoning, were singularly blended 
»n his fiery, yet deliberative language : he thought in 
<ogic and he spoke in antithesis ; his irony and his satire, 
rapid and epigrammatic, bore down all opposition, and 
left him no rival in the broad field of eloquent invective ; 
his ungraceful action, however, and the hesitating tardi¬ 
ness of his first sentences, conveyed no favourable im¬ 
pression to those who listened only to his exordium, but 
the progress of his brilliant and manly eloquence soon 
absorbed every idea, but that of admiration at the over¬ 
powering extent of his intellectual faculties. 

This was Mr. Henry Grattan of 1779—in the vicissi¬ 
tudes of whose subsequent life will be remarked three 
dictinct eras of public character, and disgusting proofs of 
popular inconsistency—the era of his glory, the era of 
his calumny, and the era of his resurrection ; in the first, 
elevated to a pitch of unbounded gratification, by the 
attachment, the gratitude, and the munificence of his 
countrymen ;—in the second, despoiled of health, of 
happiness, and of character, by the artifices of a powerful 
enemy, and in the third rising from the bed of sickness, 
re-embarking a shattered frame in the service of his 
country. In Parliament he taught the doctrines of 
Molyneux and of Lucas—he drew the true constitutional 


74 


RISE AND FALL 


distinctions between the Crown and the Government— 
the magistrate and the function—the individual and tha 
sceptre. But the partiality of the friend may possibly 
bias the pen of the historian ;—his public principles will 
be best ascertained by tracing the undeviating line of his 
public conduct. 

The career of this extraordinary man is finished. But 
he survived his country, he lived to view the demolition of 
that noble fabric raised by the exertion of his own virtue 
and perseverance, and the catastrophe of that constitu¬ 
tion, which, “ as he watched over it in its cradle, so he 
attended it to its grave.” 

III. After an oration, replete with the most luminous 
reasoning, the severest censure, pathetic and irresistible 
eloquence, Mr. Grattan moved an amendment to the 
address, viz. u That we beseech your Majesty to believe, 
that it is with the utmost reluctance we are constrained 
to approach you on the present occasion ; but the con¬ 
stant drain to supply absentees, and the unfortunate 
prohibition of our trade, have caused such calamity, that 
the natural support of our country has decayed, and 
our manufacturers are dying for want; famine stalks 
hand in hand with hopeless wretchedness ; and the only 
means left to support the expiring trade of this miserable 
part of your Majesty’s dominions, is to open a free export 
trade, and let your Irish subjects enjoy their natural 
birthright.” 

His arguments had been so conclusive, his position 
so self-evident, his language so vigorous and determined, 
his predictions so alarming, and the impression which 
those combined qualities made upon the House was so 
deep, and so extensive, that the supporters of Government, 
paralyzed and passive, seemed almost ready to resign the 
victory, before they had even attempted a resistance. 

The confusion which now appeared on the Treasury 
bench was very remarkable, because very unusual. The 
Secretary (Sir Richard Heron,) for the first time, showed 
a painful mistrust in the steadiness of his followers ; he 
perceived that the spirit of the House was rising into a 
storm, which all the influence of his office would not be 
able to allay, direct opposition would be injudicious, if 
not fatal, palpable evasion would be altogether imp r ac* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


75 


ticable, the temporizing system was almost worn out, and 
procrastination seemed to yield no better prospect of a 
favourable issue; the officers of Government sat sullenly 
on their benches, awaiting their customary cue from the 
lips of the Minister, but he was too skilful to commit 
himself to a labyrinth, from whence return was so diffi 
cult and precarious, and all was silent. At length 
Henry Cavendish hesitatingly arose, to declare his dis¬ 
sent to this first decided effort of the Irish Parliament to 
assert its liberties. 

IV. Sir Henry Cavendish was one of those persons 
who are generally found in the front of a popular 
assembly, and acquire notoriety by becoming the oracle 
of some insulated department. Though possessed of a 
pl£in, shrewd understanding, abundance of craft, a con¬ 
venient temper, and imposing plausibility; after una¬ 
vailing effort to acquire the fame of a rhetorician, Sir 
Henry contented himself with the reputation of profound 
knowledge in parliamentary precedents and points of 
order. 

He was ever prepared with a string of parliamentary 
precedents, appropriate to every question, and adapted 
to every circumstance, which he skilfully contrived to 
substitute for reasoning, and oppose to argument, and 
should his prolific memory chance to fail him in the quo¬ 
tation of his documents, his inventive genius never lei 
the subject fail for want of an auxiliary. 

On points of order he was at least as garrulous as 
orthodox, and peculiarly expert at critical interruption; 
under colour of keeping order, he assumed a licence for 
transgressing it,—and in affecting to check the digression 
of others, he frequently made it the first figure of his 
own rhetoric;—he was admirably calculated for desul¬ 
tory debate—when he was right, he was concise—when 
lie was wrong, he was pertinacious, sarcastic, obstinate, 
plausible, persevering—he gained time when he could not 
make proselytes, and became the very essence and soul of 
procrastination. Sir Henry was well aware that he durst 
not venture an unqualified negative, and endeavoured 
craftily to administer his panacea of precedents, and to 
propose what he termed “ something more orderly in the 
House, and more gracious to the Sovereign.” He said 


RISE AND FALL 


T6 

he would vote against the amendment--that the business 
would he be‘ter effected by following a precedent in the 
year 1661. when the Lords and Commons of Ireland 
appointed commissioners to attend the King—to “ sup¬ 
plicate the redress of grievances.” 

V. The die was now cast—and a resistance to the 
measure was announced and proceeded on. Mr. Scott 
(Attorney General) affected to suppoit Sir Henry—but 
as if conscious of his ultimate failure, he appeared almost 
a new character:—the bold audacity of his address dege¬ 
nerated into an insidious plausibility—his arrogance fled 
without an effort—and for once in his life he was tame, 
vapid, and equivocal;—an ardent spirit now burst forth 
from every quarter of the House. Mr. Henry Flood, a 
most prominent personage in Irish history, whose endow¬ 
ments were great, and whose character was distinguished, 
the Provost—Mr. Ogle—Sir Edward Newnham—and 
many others—declared their coincidence with the amend¬ 
ment. But though it stated, in true and pathetic language, 
the miseries Ireland was subject to, by reason of her 
absentees, if pressed too strongly on the tenderest spot ot 
the interest of Britons, to admit of their concurrence ; 
while, on the other side, it was conceived not to be tho¬ 
roughly explicit—and not sufficiently peremptory;—the 
object was most important—the moment was most critical 
—and the amendment was exceptionable. These diffi¬ 
culties had been foreseen. 

VI. Mr. Hussey Burgh (the Prime Sergeant) at length 
arose from the Treasury bench, with that proud dignity 
.so congenial to his character, and declared, that he never 
would support any Government, in fraudulently con 
cealing from the King the right of his people;—that the 
high office which he possessed could hold no competition 
with his principles and his conscience, and he should 
consider the relinquishment of his gown only as a just 
sacrifice upon the altar of his country;—that strong 
statement, rather than pathetic supplication, was adapted 
io the crisis; and he proposed to Mr. Grattan to substi- 
.ute for his amendment the following words—“ That it 
,s not by temporary expedients , that this nation is now 
10 be saved from impending ruin.” 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


77 


The effect of his speech* was altogether indescribable, 
nor is it easily to be conceived by those who were not 
witnesses of that remarkable transaction; the House, 
quick in its conception, and rapidly susceptible of every 
impression, felt the whole force of this unexpected and 
important secession. The character—the talents—the 
eloquence of this great man, bore down every symptom 
of further resistance ;—many of the usual supporters of 
Government, and some of the Viceroy’s immediate con¬ 
nections, instantly followed his example, and in a moment 
the victory was decisive,—not a single negative could the 
Minister procure,—and Mr. Burgh’s amendment passed 
unanimously, amidst a tumult of joy and exultation. 

This triumph of Irish patriotism, made an instantaneous 
and powerful impression on the minds of the people ;—it 
was their first victory, and the ministers’ first discomfiture. 
The volunteers attributed this unexpected success to the 
impressions which their spirit had diffused throughout 
the country, and they determined to adopt this measure, 
as if it had been their own offspring—and thereby identify 
the virtues of the Parliament with the energies of the 
people. On the circumstance being announced, the 
drums beat to arms—the Volunteer associations collected 
in every part of the metropolis—and they resolved to 
line the streets, and accompany to the gates of the Castle 
that part of the legislative body which moved in solemn 
procession, to present their wholesome warning into the 
hands of the Viceroy. 

The secession of Mr. Burgh from the Government, 
was not more important than that of M. Connolly, 
brother-in-law to the Viceroy, and Mr. Burton Cuning- 
liam, a constant supporter of ministerial measures—men 

* The author of this memoir was present at that memorable debate 
(if debate it can be called,) and the impression it then made upon his 
mind can never be effaced. The depression on the one side—the exulta¬ 
tion on the other—the new sensation on both—the obvious feeling which 
this unexpected event excited in the galleries, crowded by six or seven 
hundred of the most respectable persons out of Parliament, and a great 
number of ladies of high rank—the general congratulation on the spirit 
of the Parliament, was a scene so remarkable, as never to be forgotten; 
but is attended by the sad reflection, that Mr. Burgh did not long sur¬ 
vive the service he did his country—nor did his country long survive the 
service which he rendered it 


r 


78 


RISE AND FALL 


in high estimation and of large fortunes—which gave Mr. 
Grattan an opportunity for observing, that “ the people 
were thus getting landed security for the attainment of 
their liberties.” 

The effect of this measure, though in its nature incon¬ 
clusive, appeared to lay the first stone of Irish indepen¬ 
dence, and greatly increased both the numbers and con¬ 
fidence in Volunteer associations.* 

Several attempts had been previously made to fix the 
attention of the British legislature on the distressed and 
dangerous situation of Ireland; but every such eflort had 
proved totally abortive. Although the critical state of 
that country had been discussed in both houses of Par¬ 
liament, and addresses had been voted to the King re¬ 
questing his immediate attention to the affairs of Ireland, 
to which favorable answers had been returned by his 
Majesty; and though the Irish Commons had also framed 
a resolution, in the language of more than common 
expostulation ; yet the subject passed away from the 


* The secret history of this celebrated amendment is worthy of record¬ 
ing; it proves that the measures adopted by Ireland, at that period, were 
not the work of party or of faction, but the result of the secret and delibe¬ 
rate consideration of the most able and virtuous men of the Irish nation. 

Mr. Dennis Daly, a man of great abilities, large fortune, exquisite 
eloquence, and high character, together with Mr. Grattan, withdrew 
themselves to Bray (a village ten miles from the metropolis,) there to 
deliberate privately on the most effectual means of attaining the just 
rights of their country;—previous confidential communications had taken 
place between them and Mr. Perry, then Speaker of the House of Com¬ 
mons, who recommended a strong and comprehensive amendment to the 
address of the ensuing session, as the first step to be taken on the occa¬ 
sion. Mr. Grattan drew up one amendment—Mr. Daly another—and 
Mr. Daly's, in his own hand-writing, formed that which Mr. Grattan 
moved in the Commons. 

At the same time similar communications had taken place between Mr 
Hussey Burgh and Mr. Henry Flood, which gave rise to the amendment 
moved by Mr Burgh. 

That proposed by Mr. Grattan leaning heavily on absentees, the friends 
of that body did not, from the complexion of the House, wish to hazard 
any division respecting them; and therefore, to avoid such discussion, 
acceded to Mr. Burgh's ammenument, which did not allude to absentees, 
to avoid Mi. Grattan’s which did;—and to this circumstance is to be attri¬ 
buted the unaccountable unanimity with which the measure passed both 
Houses of Parliament—and the extraordinary secession of Mr. Connolly, 
ind other weighty supporters of Administration 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


79 


attention of the Ministers, and even this session closed, 
affording only further and decided proofs of their tem¬ 
porizing duplicity. 

VII. Great Britain was not as yet sufficiently alarmed, 
to become just;—she could not as yet be persuaded that 
the Irish people were competent to the redress of their 
own grievances; and she considered the warmth of their 
public declarations only as the brilliant flashes of a tem¬ 
porary patriotism. 

Her egotism blinded her to her state and she fancied 
that the same revolution which had confirmed her liberties, 
had subjected to her power the liberties of her sister; 
and still paramount to justice and to policy, she felt too 
proud as yet to bend her attention to the grievances which 
she had herself inflicted. 

Some powerful friends of Ireland at length began 
zealously to espouse her interests. The good Earl Nu¬ 
gent, whose memory and character are still revered by 
those who recollect the sincerity of his attachment to that 
country in 1778, made an effort in the British Lords to 
call their attention to the distresses of Ireland: but his 
efforts were ineffectual. The same nobleman soon after 
repeated the same effort; but his weight and abilities 
were not equal to his zeal and integrity. His motion was 
treated with an unbecoming superciliousness by Lord 
North, and death unfortunately, soon after, deprived his 
country of one of its truest friends and most dignified and 
honest advocates. 

VIII. The Earl of Shelburne, in the Lords, and the 
Earl of Upper Ossory, in the Commons, also proposed 
strong resolutions in both Houses, declaratory of the 
dangerous state of that country.* But though the mo- 

* The following resolution was moved, by the Earl of Shelburne, in 
the British House of Lords, on the 1st day of December, 1779 

“ Resolved—That it is highly criminal in his Majesty's Ministers to 
Dave neglected taking effectual measures for the relief of the kingdom of 
Ireland, and to have suffered the discontents of that country to rise to such 
a height, as evidently to endanger the constitutional connection between 
the two kingdoms, and to create new embarrassments to the public coun¬ 
cils, through division and diffidence, in a moment when real unanimity, 
grounded upon mutual confidence and affection, is confessedl) T essential 
to the pre<iervatio7i of the British empire.” 

After a short debate, this motion was rejected. For the motion— 
87 Lords. Against it—82. 


so 


RISE AND FALL 


tion was well-timed, the motives of the noble movers did 
not proceed from the same feeling which actuated the 
resident inhabitants of Ireland. Neither of those noble¬ 
men had been habitual friends to the general interests of 
that country. Both of them were total absentees—they 
possessed large estates in Ireland, and trembled for their 
properties—they acted in general opposition to-the Go¬ 
vernment, and wished to register the culpability of their 
adversaries. Their motions were, after very sharp debates, 
rejected in both Houses, and Ireland became fully and 
finally convinced, that it was not through the occasional 
exertion of Irish emigrants, in a foreign legislature, that 
she was to seek for the recovery of her rights, and allevi¬ 
ation of her miseries. 

Applications to the Government—petitions to the Par¬ 
liament—and supplications to the Crown, had all been 
tiled in vain: neither the bold remonstrances of right, 
nor the piercing cries of necessity, could reach the royal 
ear, or penetrate the circle of Ministers which surrounded 
the British throne, and concealed from the Irish king a 
distinct view of his Irish people. Humble and pathetic 
language had failed—the voice of the nation was ex¬ 
hausted by unevailing supplication—and it now became 
full time to act in the cause of liberty. 

•Such being the ascertained disposition of the whole 
body of the people, not a moment was to be lost in the 
adoption of some measure, too strong to be despised by 
ministers, and too moderate to be dangerous to the con¬ 
nection. Delay might now terminate all the hopes of 
Ireland—the crisis might pass away—the public spirit 
might cool—and the moment so auspicious to the inter¬ 
ests of the nation might be lost for ever. Though this 
determination quickly circulated throughout the whole 
country, the people still acted with that deliberate firm¬ 
ness, which, of all conduct, is the most fatal to a pol itical 
adversary, and adds most strength and character to populai 
proceedings. 

IX. The personages who then led Ireland forward tc 
her bloodless victory, well knew the inestimable value of 
that prudent principle. They were men of great abilities 
—profound wisdom—and that effective patriotism, which 
considers activity its necessary frknd, but precipitation 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


81 


Its most dangerous enemy. They instructed the people, 
that while they acted with undeviating firmness, they 
should also act with prudential moderation—that the sus¬ 
pended liberties of a people were most likely to be reco¬ 
vered from a powerful oppressor, by a determined but 
cool and progressive perseverance—that by deliberate 
system none would be alarmed—wise men would be 
attended to—the impetuous be restrained—the wavering 
confirmed—and the poople steadied: patriotism and con¬ 
fidence would grow up together and become more inti¬ 
mately blended, and the whole nation, without alarm, be 
imperceptibly led to one common centre, and become 
competent to achieve the strongest measures, before they 
were well aware that they had commenced the prepara¬ 
tion for them. 

They were instructed, that on the other hand, undi¬ 
gested and impetuous proceedings, if not successful, by 
the first rapidity of their execution, in general defeat their 
own object, and rivet the chains of that country which 
they were intended to emancipate—that it is more prac¬ 
ticable to advance on gradual claims than recede from 
extravagant determinations—and that the inevitable 
miseries of civil war, however justifiable upon the princi¬ 
ples and precedent of constitutional resistance, esta¬ 
blished at the revolution, should be the last resource even 
of an enslaved people—and, that though the Irish were 
armed, and might demand concession in the attitude and 
tone of confidence, it would be much wiser to give their 
incipient proceedings the weight and character of citizens, 
and reserve for the last extremity the threat of soldiers— 
that England, by this means, would be sufficiently in¬ 
formed of the determination of Ireland, without feeling 
her pride too much hurt, to propose a negotiation, or so 
much alarmed as to prepare for resistance. 

This discreet reasoning had its full effect upon the 
geneiality t)f the nation; and though the ebullitions of 
public feeling occasionally broke forth in ardent resolu¬ 
tions of the Volunteer associations—the temperate system 
was generally adopted; and it was only upon fully expe¬ 
riencing its final failure, that the exhilarating shouts of 
an embattled people were heard reverberating from every 
•quarter of a military country. 


82 


RISE AND FALL 


X. As before mentioned, public resolutions neither to 
import, purchase, or consume any British manufacture, 
or commodity whatever, had been universally but peace¬ 
ably adopted, throughout the whole island—a measure 
at all times justifiable by any people, who may have 
been deprived of their commerce and their constitution 
by the power or the machinations of an insidious 
neighbour. 

Inundated as Ireland had been with every species of 
British manufacture, there could be no step so just, so 
moderate, or which promised so many beneficial conse¬ 
quences, as the total exclusion from the Irish markets of 
every commodity which she was herself competent to ma¬ 
nufacture, or of which she could possibly dispense with 
the immediate consumption. However, it was not until 
after the grievances of Ireland could be no longer en¬ 
dured, and she found that nothing but propositions, 
without sufficient latitude to be beneficial, or security 
to be permanent, were offered for her acceptance, that 
these resolutions became almost universal—spread them¬ 
selves like a rapid flame, throughout every village of 
the island—and were zealously promoted by almost every 
individual in the country. At length, a general meet¬ 
ing was convened by the High Sheriffs of the city of 
Dublin, and resolutions* then entered into by the whole 

* THOLSEL, DUBLIN. 

At a general meeting of the Freemen and Freeholders of the City cf 
Dublin, convened by public notice , 

William James, and John Exshaw, High Sheriffs, in the chair. 

The following Resolutions, amongst others, were unanimously 
agreed to: 

“ That we will not, from the date hereof, until the grievances of this 
country shall be removed, directly or indirectly import or consume an? 
of the manufactures of Great Britain ; nor will we deal with any mer¬ 
chant, or shopkeeper, who shall import such manufactures; and that we 
recommend an a loption of a similar agreement to all our gountrymen who 
regard the commerce and constitution of this country. 

“ Resolved unanimously, That we highly applaud the manly and patri¬ 
otic sentiments of the several corps of Merchants, Independent Dublin, 
Liberty, and Goldsmiths’ Volunteers, and heartily thank them for their 
demonstration of zeal and ardour in the cause of their country—and that 
we shall ever be ready to join with them in defending our rights and con¬ 
stitution, and gladly and cheerfully contribute to protect them from 
•eosecution or persecution. 

Signed , JOHN EXSHAW, Sheriff” 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


83 


metropolis, which finally confirmed and consummated 1 hat 
judicious measure, and at length convinced Great Bri¬ 
tain, that Ireland would no longer submit to insult and 
domination, and had commenced a gradation of active 
proceedings, of which the climax might ultimately, though 
unfortunately, produce a rupture of the connection. 

These resolutions were enforced with rigor and strict¬ 
ness. Few men, however their interest might be affected, 
would wantonly risk the imputation of being traitors to 
their country, and encounter the dangers of popular 
retribution, which was, in some few instances, actually 
inflicted. 

The nation now paused for a moment: it found itself 
prepared to commence its great work of constitutional 
regeneration, and stood steadily and firmly watching with 
an anxious eye, for the operation of this first oven act of 
determined patriotism. The people had now ascended an 
eminence sufficiently elevated to give them a ful view of 
their friends and of their enemies—they had peaceably 
hoisted the first standard, and made the first proclamation 
of liberty. A mutual compact*of the citizen to support 
the soldier, and the soldier to defend the citizen, formed 
a very remarkable feature in all their resolutions—and 
though the military associations had not (as such) yet 
assumed a deliberative capacity, it was obvious that their 
discretion alone had continued the distinction—and, that 
though they spoke by two tongues, there was in fact but 
one heart amongst the people. 

This bold measure, however it may have been eclipsed 
by the more striking importance of events which succeeded 
each other in a rapid progression, yet had a momentous 
influence on the subsequent fate and policy of Ireland, and 
must be considered as the commencement of that interest¬ 
ing course of political transactions, which suddenly raised 
her to the highest pitch of national pride and prosperity, 
and afterwards hurled her down the destructive precipice 
of misery and degradation. 

The spirited adoption and obstinate adherence of the 

N. B.— This resolution had been preceded, some months before, by 
similar resolutions in Galway and other pans of Ireland; but the nation 
could not be considered as having generally adopted those sentiments, tij] 
they were sanctioned by the metropolis. 


84 


RISE AND FALL 


iris] i people to these resolutions, now flashed as a new 
light "in the eyes of the British Administration. The 
power of the English statutes, which bound the com¬ 
merce of Ireland, was, by these resolutions, almost at the 
same moment denied and demolished, without the aid of 
arms, or tumult of insurrection, and the pride and power 
of Great Britain received that warning blow, which taught 
her what she had reason to expect from a further perse¬ 
verance in her favorite system. The Ministry were asto¬ 
nished : the arm of usurpation, which had so long wielded 
alternately the sword and commanded the coffer, fell 
paralyzed and lifeless by the side of the usurpers. But 
the fate of empires is governed by the same fatality as 
the chequered life of individuals; and this very measure, 
which so auspiciously and proudly asserted, and the 
vvents which afterwards so completely acquired the con¬ 
stitutional independence and commercial freedom of Ire¬ 
land, will be found the ulterior pretence for revoking 
those great acquirements. England, compelled to concede 
was determined to reclaim, and from the first hours of 
reluctant concession, pursued that deep and insidious sys¬ 
tem, which will be fully traced and developed in the 
course of Irish transactions, and will be found conspicu¬ 
ously active, from the commercial tariff of 1784, through 
every stage of the regency, and the rebellion, to the com¬ 
pletion of that measure, entitled a legislative Union be¬ 
tween the two countries. 

XI. The Volunteer associations of the metropolis soon 
perceived, that however numerous their force and exten¬ 
sive their popularity, it required some strong link of con¬ 
nection to unite military bodies, so entirely distinct and 
independent of each other—who acknowledged no supe¬ 
rior to their respective commanders, and no control but 
Voluntary obedience. 

To secure their unanimity, perhaps even their perma¬ 
nence, it required some consolidating authority, whose 
weight might restrain within proper limits the uncon¬ 
trolled spirits of a body, assuming the double capacity of 
a soldier and of a citizen. 

This essential object could only be attained by the 
selection of some high and dignified personage, whose 
dnk and character, rising beyond the reach of common 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


35 

competition, might unite together, under one common 
chief, that diversity of views and objects which must ever 
distract the proceedings of detached associations. 

The Volunteers of Dublin saw clearly, that military 
bodies, however laudable their views, must be more than 
commonly subject to the fallibility of human institutions, 
and that to have the effect and impetus of an army, they 
must submit themselves fully to its control and organi¬ 
zation. 

They did not, however, long hesitate in their choice of 
a commander. Every eye seemed to turn, by genera^ 
instinct, on William, Duke of Leinster. His family, 
from the earliest periods, had been favorites of the peo¬ 
ple—he had himself, when Marquis of Kildare, been 
tiie popular representative for Dublin—he was the only 
Duke of Ireland—his disposition and his address com¬ 
bined almost every quality which could endear him to 
the nation. , The honesty of his heart might occasionally 
mislead the accuracy of his judgment; but he always 
intended right, and his political errors usually sprung 
from the principle of moderation. 

This amiable Nobleman was therefore unanimously 
elected, by the armed bodies of the metropolis, their 
General, and was immediately invested with all the 
honours of so high a situation ; a guard of Volunteers 
was mounted at his door—a body guard appointed to 
attend him on public occasions—and sentinels placed on 
his box when he honoured the theatre; he was followed 
with acclamations whenever he appeared; and something 
approaching to regal honours attended his investiture.* 

* A whimsical circumstance took place on this occasion, which shows 
the extreme credulity with which every intelligence respecting Ireland 
was then swallowed in Great Britain. The appointment of the Duke, 
as General in Chief, was celebrated by the Volunteers in College-green, 
with great solemnity. Their artillery was ordered out, and a vast con¬ 
course of people were assembled. The captain of a Whitehaven collier, 
who had just landed, and come unexpectedly to the spot, on inquiring 
the reason of such rejoicing, was jocularly informed, that the people 
were crowning the Duke King of Ireland. He waited for no further 
information—got back with all expedition to his vessel in the bay,-and 
sailed instantly for Liverpool; where he made an affidavit before the 
Mayor, that he was present and saw the Duke of Leinster crowned 
King of Ireland the preceding day. An express was instantly despatched 
to London with the affidavit"to the British Ministers—a cabinet counci 

8 


86 


RISE AND FALL 


This was the first measure of the Volunteers towards 
the formation of a regular army; its novelty and splen¬ 
dor added greatly to its importance, and led the way to 
the subsequent appointments which soon after completed 
their organization. The mild and unassuming disposi¬ 
tion of the Duke, tending, by its example, to restrain the 
over zeal of an armed and irritated nation, did not con¬ 
tribute much to increase the energy of their proceedings 
and at no distant period deprived him, for a moment, of 
a portion of that popularity which his conduct (with but 
little deviation) entitled him to, down to the last moments 
of his existence. 

A new scene now presented itself to the view of tht 
British Minister, and embarrassed, to an unparalleled 
degree, every measure of the Irish administration. A 
regular army, composed of every rank of society, raised, 
armed, and disciplined in the midst of the metropolis, 
independent of the Crown, and unconnected with the 
Government, disdaining all authority of either over their 
military concerns, and, under the eye of the Viceroy, 
appointing a commander in chief, and avowing their 
determination to free their country or perish in its ruins/ 
the standing army tame spectators of this extraordinary 
spectacle, and almost participating the flame which they 
might be called upon to extinguish ; the Government, 
irresolute, and shrinking within the Castle, not only 
tolerated, but even affected to countenance, this unpa¬ 
ralleled procedure. The new commander of the Volun¬ 
teers was received and recognized by the public author¬ 
ities, and the regular soldiery at length involuntarily 
paid him the same military attentions as their own 
commanders. 

But though the Government, from policy, affected to 
bear the sight with complacency and patience, they 
reflected, with the deepest solicitude, on the situation of 
the country, and secretly made every effort to divide or 
weaken the military associations. Every device was 

was immediately summoned, to deliberate on this alarming intelligence, 
when the arrival of the regular mail diss pated their consternation, by 
stating the real causes of the rejoicing. 

1 The following label was affixed to the mouth of the VCuntoci an 
aoa—“ A Free Trade o»*- 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


87 


nsed to seduce the soldier from his officers, or to detach 
the most popular officers from the command of the 
soldiers. The one was offered commissions and pay from 
the Crown, the other offices in the public departments. 
No scheme was left untried—no means were forgotten, 
to achieve this object; but it was all in vain—the spirit 
of the people was then too high, and their patriotism too 
ardent to admit of such negociation—and every attempt 
became not only futile, but also gave an additional 
strength to the measures and declarations of the people. 

The appointment of the Duke of Leinster to the com¬ 
mand of the Volunteers of the metropolis, was quickly 
followed by that of other district generals ; and the or¬ 
ganization of four provincial armies was regularly pro¬ 
ceeded on ; the country gentlemen, of the highest con¬ 
sideration and largest fortune, vied with each other in 
their efforts to promote it; many leading members of 
the Irish parliament were individually active in promo¬ 
ting the common object—and from single corps were 
soon collected county regiments and provincial armies 
ready to take the field at the command of their officers, 
and to sacrifice their lives and their properties for the 
emancipation of their country. 

Still, however, something was wanting to complete 
their organization ; provincial armies had been formed 
and disciplined, but still these armies were independent 
of each other—there was no general head, to put the 
whole in motion—no individual to whom all would own 
obedience, and such an appointment seemed indispensa¬ 
bly essential to secure their co-operation. 

But this was a task more serious and more difficult than 
had yet occurred. Where could be found the man, 
whose integrity was incorruptible—whose wisdom was 
profound, whose courage was invincible, yet whose 
moderation was conspicuous, and whose popularity was 
extensive? Ireland could not boast a Washington, yet 
so critical was her situation at that moment, that a com¬ 
bination of all these qualities seemed to be requisite in 
the person to whom should be entrusted the guidance ot 
eighty thousand patriot soldiers. Such a personage was 
not to be discovered; and it was only left to the Volun¬ 
teers to select the purest character of that day, and leave 


83 


RISE AND FALL 


his guidance to the councils less of the concurring than 
of the counteracting qualities of the inferior commanders. 

XII. Public t flairs in Ireland now began to wear a 
serious and alaiming aspect. The Leinster army appointed 
the Earl of Charlemont its commander in chief, the other 
armies proceeded rapidly in their organization. Provin¬ 
cial reviews were adopted; and every thing assumed the 
appearance of systematic movement. 

The elevation of Lord Charlemont to that high com¬ 
mand, though it formed a more decided military establish¬ 
ment for the Volunteer army, was probably the very 
.means of preserving the connection between the two 
countries ; had the same confidence and command been 
entrusted to a more ardent or ambitious character, it 
might have been difficult to calculate on the result of 
combining an intemperate leader with an impatient army, 
but the moderation of Lord Charlemont gave a tone and 
a steadiness to the proceedings of the people, which might 
otherwise have pointed to a distinct independence. His 
character had long preceded his elevation; in the North, 
his influence was unlimited, and though the Southern and 
Western Volunteers .had not as yet consolidated their 
force with the other provinces, they were in a high state 
of discipline and preparation, and soon adopted the same 
principles, which the appointment of the Earl of Char- 
lemont had now diffused through the other parts of the 
Nation. 

From the first moment that James Earl of Charlemont 
embarked in Irish politics, he proved himself to be one 
of the most honest and dignified personages that can be 
traced in the annals of Irish history ; the love of his 
country was interwoven with his existence—their union 
was complete, their separation impossible ; but his talents 
were rather of the conducting class, and his wisdom of a 
deliberative nature—his mind was more pure than 
vigorous—more elegant than powerful—and his capacity 
seemed better adapted to counsel in peace, than to com¬ 
mand in war. 

Though he was not devoid of ambition, and was proud 
of his popularity, his principles were calm, and his 
moderation predominant;—for some years at the head of 
a great army in the heart of a powerful people — in the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


89 


hand of an injured nation—during the most critical 
epoch that a kingdom ever experienced—he conducted 
the Irish-nation with incredible temperance—and, in the 
midst of tempests, he flowed on, in an unruffled stream, 
fertilizing the plain of liberty, and enlarging the channel 
of independence—but too smooth and too gentle to turn 
the vast machinery of revolution. 

His view of political objects, though always honest was 
frequently erroneous;—small objects sometimes appeared 
too important, and great ones too hazardous;—though he 
would not actually temporize, he could be seduced to 
hesitate—yet even when his decision was found wander¬ 
ing from the point of its destination, it was invariably 
discoverable that discretion was the seducer. 

Had the unwise pertinacity of England persisted in 
her errors, and plunged his country into more active 
contest, his mildness—his constitution—and his love of 
order—would have unadapted him to the vicissitudes of 
civil commotion, or the energetic promptitude of military 
tactics;—but fortunately the adoption of his counsels 
rendered his sword unnecessary; and by the selection of 
one man, to combat for the liberties of Ireland, he raised 
a youthful champion for his country, whose sling soon 
levelled the giant of usurpation, and he wound a laurel 
round the bust of the deliverer, which will remain un¬ 
faded, till the very name of Ireland shall be obliterated 
from amongst nations. 

His indisposition to the extent of Catholic liberty— 
nourished by the prejudice of the times—was diminished 
by the patriotism of the people ;—the Catholics of 1780 
preferred their country to the claims, as those of 1800 
preferred their claims to their country—and amongst 
that people he gained by his honesty, what he lost by his 
intolerance, and lived just long enough to experience and 
to mourn the fallibility of his predictions. 

Around this Nobleman the Irish Volunteers flocked 41 s 
around a fortress;—the standard of liberty was supported 
by his character—the unity of the Empire was protected 
by his wisdom; and as if Providence had attached him 
to the destinies of Ireland, he arose- he flourished—and 
he sunk with his country. 


8* 


RISE AND FALL 


60 


CHAPTER V 

Spirit of the Irish and humiliation of the English Government—Prepara 
tion for hostilities—Lord North’s embarrassment—King’s conciliator) 
speech and the consequent proceedings—Duplicity of Ministers—Tht 
people alarmed—Volunteer Organization proceeds—Mutiny Bill— 
Alarming rencontre of the Volunteers and Regular Army—Intolerance 
of England—Further Grievances of Ireland—Proceedings in the Irish 
Parliament—O’Neill of Shane’s Castle—His character and influence 
—Address to the Volunteers—Its results. 

i. The British Government at length awakened from 
their slumbers—their dreams of power and security now 
vanished before the view of their increasing dangers ;—a 
reliance on the omnipotence of English power—at all 
times chimerical—would now have been presumptuous;— 
the Irish nation, to whose bravery and whose blood the 
victories and conquests of Britain had been so eminently 
indebted, now called imperatively for their own rights, 
and demanded a full participation of that constitution, in 
support of which they had daily sacrificed so great a 
proportion of their treasure and their population. 

The Irish soldier and the Irish seaman could never be 
supposed to remain unfeeling spectators, whilst their 
own country was struggling for its dearest liberties, or 
become the mercenary instruments of their own subju¬ 
gation. Even their indisposition to the British service 
would have reduced the armies and navy to debility, 
but their defections would have been fatal to the power 
of Great Britain, and have enabled Ireland irresistibly to 
effect her total independence. The balance of Europe 
was likely to undergo a great change ;—the impiovident 
attachment to continental politics—almost exclusively 
engrossed the attention of England; and the completion 
of a mercenary league with a petty potentate of a Ger¬ 
manic principality, inferior even to one Irish county was 
considered of more importance by the British Cabinet 
than all the miseries, the dangers, and oppressions of 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


91 


Ireland. But the British Government now perceived 
their error, when it was too late to temporize—and that 
arrogance, which, for centuries, had hardly condescended 
to hear her groans, was now started into attention. 

II. Affairs now approached fast towards a crisis; the 
freedom of commerce being the subject most familiar and 
comprehensible to the ideas of the people, was the first 
object of their solicitude. “A Free Trade” became the 
watchword of the Volunteers, and the cry of the Nation; 
—the Dublin Volunteer Artillery appeared on parade, 
commanded by James Napper Tandy, with labels on the 
mouths of their cannon, Free Trade or speedy Revo - 
lution ; placards were pasted up in every part of the city, 
to the same effect, until the determined proceedings of 
all ranks and classes of the people, connected with the 
operation of the non-importation agreements, left no fur¬ 
ther room for ministerial procrastination. 

The British Minister now became alarmed, and trem¬ 
bled for the consequences of his political intolerance ; lie 
had no passage to retreat by, and after every struggle 
which circumstances could admit of, the British Cabinet 
at length came to a resolution, that “ something must lie 
done to tranquilize Ireland.” The King was informed of 
their determination, and was prevailed upon to accede to 
it. His Majesty had received a severe shock, by the unex¬ 
pected events of the American contest, and the additional 
mortification of compulsory concessions to Ireland, waiJ 
little calculated to tranquilize his feelings ; however, 
absolute necessity required his acquiescence; and it was 
finally determined, by the executive Power of Great* 
Britain, to adopt means, if not altogether to satisfy, at 
least to conciliate and to concede considerably to Ireland. 

From this determination, the affairs in the British 
Empire began to wear a new aspect ; the day was fast 
approaching when England, for the first time, must con¬ 
descend to acknowledge her own errors, and, in the face 
of Europe, to humble herself before a people, who had, 
for six centuries, been the slaves of her power rather 
than the subjects of her affection. 

Lord North had now a more difficult task to perform 
than he at first conceived, to recant his avo wed principles, 
to humble the pride of his own country, and submit to the 


92 


RISE AND FALL 


justice of another, and above all, to justify his own con¬ 
duct, which had reduced both countries to that state 
which required those concessions : an awful lesson to all 
Governments, how cautiously they should arrogate to 
themselves a dominion, of which the basis was power 
and the superstructure injustice. 

III. But all subterfuge had ended, and on the 24th of 
November, 1782, his Majesty ascended the throne, to 
proclaim his first substantial act of grace to the Irish 
nation, and to call the immediate attention of his British 
Parliament to the situation of that country,* but his 
Majesty obviously insinuated, that his attention to Ireland 
was attracted by a consideration for the safety of Great 
Britain—and that the benefits to be extended to Ireland 
should be only such as would be for the common interest, 
not of Ireland abstractedly, but of all -his dominions— 
and by that very act of conceding to Ireland, he virtually 
asserted the supremacy of the British Parliament. 

This speech was immediately attended to by the British 
Parliament; the opposition received it as a triumph over 
the Minister, and gladly acceded to a declaration which 
proclaimed the imbecility and misconduct of the Cabinet. 
An actual insurrection in Ireland—the certain conse¬ 
quence of further inattention—would have certainly de¬ 
prived the Minister of his station, and perhaps eventually 
of his head. 

A coincidence of events thus united two hostile inter- 

* That clause of his Majesty’s speech, which related to Ireland, ran 
as follows: 

“ In the midst of my care and solicitude for the safety and welfare of 
this country, I have not been inattentive to the state of my loyal and 
faithful kingdom of Ireland. I have (in consequence of your addres¬ 
ses, presented to me in the last session) ordered such papers to be col¬ 
lected and laid before you, as may assist your deliberations on this im¬ 
portant business; and I recommend it to you to consider what further 
benefits and advantages may be extended to that kingdom, by such regu¬ 
lations and such methods, as may most effectually promote the common 
strength, wealth, and interests of all my dominions.” 

This was quickly followed up by resolutions—giving the lie direct to 
King William, and to the assertions of their own ancestors—and by pass¬ 
ing bills, distinctly repealing all the acts which their predecessors had 
declared absolutely essential to secure the 'prosperity of England from th« 
dangerous industry of the Irish 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


93 


ests m one honest object; and Ireland was destined to 
receive, through the ambition of one party, and the 
terror of another, those rights which she had so long in 
vain solicited from their justice. 

This speech was immediately followed by the measures 
recommended by his Majesty, and the same Parliament 
which had so repeatedly withheld the just rights of Ire¬ 
land, now thought they could not too hastily accede to 
her claims ; and hardly a day was omitted, till the pro¬ 
posed arrangement was proceeded on.* 

Messages were sent over to Ireland, to announce the 
happy tidings to the people, and emissaries were dis 
persed over every part of the kingdom, to blazon tht 
liberality and justice of Great Britain. 

IV. The Minister, however, justly suspecting, that so 
soon as the paroxysms of Irish gratitude, for this unac¬ 
customed condescension, should subside, and give way 
to calm rejection, that nation could not avoid perceiving, 
that until their constitution became independent, and the 
usurpation of England should be altogether acknow¬ 
ledged^ these favours could have no stability, and might 
be revoked, at a more favourable opportunity, by the 
same authority which originally conceded them. 

To obviate these feelings, the Minister continued the 
Committee on Irish atfairs open from time to time, now 
and then passing a resolution in favour of that country, 
and thus endeavouring to wear out the session, which he, 
no doubt, intended should terminate his favours. 

The whole nation at length perceived the duplicity 
of proceedings which, while they purported to extend 
benefits to Ireland, asserted the paramount authority of 
Great Britain, and converted its acts of concession into 
declaratory statutes of its own supremacy . 

Reasoning of this nature soon made a deep impression 
on the public mind, and meetings were held throughout 
the kingdom, to declare the national feeling on this im¬ 
portant subject; fourteen counties at once avowed their 
determination to tear down these barriers which excluded 
them from a full participation of the British constitution, 

* The British Parliament met the 25th )f November, and the first billi 
id concession received the royal assent the 21st December. 


94 


RISE AND FALL. 


and to establish, at the risk of their lives and fortune^ 
the independence of the Irish legislature, beyond the 
power of British re-assumption. # 

This spirit and this determination spread themselves 
universally amongst the people; the cry of “ Free Trade* 
was now accompanied with that of u Free Parliament ,” 
and that patriotic enthusiasm which had so effectually 
asserted the commerce of Ireland, now arose with double 
vigour to assert its constitution. 

V. The Volunteer army, in the mean time, rapidly 
advanced in discipline and numbers : the success which 
had attended this first effort of their steadiness acted as 
a powerful incitement to the continuation of their exer¬ 
tion ; they felt, with exultation, that at the very time 
they were in arms, without the authority of the Crown, 
or control of their Sovereign, his Majesty, from his 
throne, condescended to pass unqualified eulogiums on 
the loyalty and fidelity of the people —expressions, which, 
if considered with reference to the King, were gracious— 
but with reference to the Government, which framed 
them, were clearly intended as an anodyne to lull that 
spirit which durst not be encountered. 

Provincial reviews of the Volunteer armies were now 

* As the genius and disposition of a people are often discoverable, not 
only by trivial but ludicrous circumstances, so their national poetry and 
music have a very considerable effect in rousing the spirit, and disclosing 
the character. At this period the press teemed with publications of every 
quality, in prose and verse, on the subject of fresh grievances. A stanza 
from one of the popular songs of that day, shows the pointed humour 
and whimsical lightness which characterize that people even upon the 
most important subjects. 

In alluding to the Irish being deprived of the woollen trade by Eng¬ 
land, and the military associations of Ireland to assert her liberty, the 
stanza runs thus: 

“Was she not a fool, 

When she took of our wool. 

To leave us so much of the 

leather, the leather ? 

It ne’er entered her pate, 

That a s l ieep's skin, well heat. 

Would draw a whole nation 

TOGETHER, TOGETHER.” 

These words were adapted to a popular air, and became a lavountt 
march of the Volunteers, and a patriotic song amongst the peasantry 
throughout the kingdom 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


95 


adopted, and a more regular staff appointed to the gene* 
ral officers; new trains of artillery were formed—that of 
Belfast was brought to considerable perfection. Earl 
Charlemont was called on to review the Northern army; 
on his tour he was attended by many persons of the 
highest distinction, and his suit had all the appearance 
of military dignity and national importance. His Lord- 
ship returned to review the Leinster corps in Dublin. 
His aid-de-camps were men of the highest character and 
of the first ability. Barry Yelverton, Hussey Burgh 
(both of whom were afterwards Chief Barons of the 
Exchequer.) and Mr. Grattan, were on his staff. 

The Volunteer army had acquired the discipline of an 
efficient force, and at that period amounted to above 
eighty thousand soldiers, ready for actual service, aided 
by the zeal, the prayers, and the co-operation, of nearly 
five millions unarmed inhabitants. 

The British Government, which had vainly supposed 
that enough had been done, if not to satisfy, at least 
somewhat to disunite the Irish people, now perceived 
how ill they had calculated on the character of that na¬ 
tion, and felt, with pain and disappointment, the futility 
of their designs, and the feebleness of their authority. 

The dilemma of the Minister was difficult and dis¬ 
tressing; any’effort to seduce the Volunteers would have 
roused—any attempt to dupe them would but inflame, 
and to resist them would have been impossible: dis¬ 
tracted, therefore, by every species of embarrassment, he 
suffered the Irish nation to pursue its course without 
direct opposition, and trusted to the chance of events for 
the preservation of the empire. 

Grave and most important circumstances now opened 
to the public view, and imperatively concurred to put 
the constitutional claims of Ireland directly in issue with 
the British legislature. 

The army in Ireland had been under the regulations 
of a British statute; and the hereditary revenue of the 
Grown, with the aid of a perpetual mutiny bill, enabled 
the British Government to command at all times a stand¬ 
ing army in Ireland, without the authority or the control 
of its Parliament. 

This unconstitutional power, hitherto almost unnoticed 


RISE AND FALL 


96 

in Ireland, now that the principles of libe ty had been 
disseminated amongst the people, and that an indepen¬ 
dent army of Irishmen had been organized, became a 
subject of general dissatisfaction. Some patriotic magis¬ 
trates determined to make a stand upon that point, and 
to bring the legality of British statutes, as operating in 
Ireland, into issue, through the medium of their own 
conduct, in refusing to obey them. 

To effect this measure, they determined to resist the 
authority of the British mutiny act, and by refusing to 
billet soldiers, under the provisions of that statute, soli¬ 
cited complaints against themselves, for the purpose of 
trying the question. 

This measure would at once'have put Ireland and the 
usurpation of Great Britain in direct issue; hut the Irish 
judges were then dependent upon the Crown; they 
held their offices during pleasure only; judges might 
differ with the juries—the people with both—and the 
result of a trial of such a question, in such a way, was 
considered by all parties as too precarious, to hazard the 
experiment. 

The career of independence however proceeded with 
irresistible impetuosity ; a general feeling arose that a 
crisis was fast approaching, when the true principles of 
the Irish constitution must be decisively determined. 

Though the regular forces and the Volunteer army 
were on the most amicable terms, yet jealousies might 
eventually be widened into a breach, pregnant with the 
most disastrous consequences. This was an extremity 
the Viceroy determined to avoid; and orders were issued 
to the army, to show every-possible mark of respect to 
the Volunteers; their officers received the usual military 
salute from the regular soldiers, and at the request of 
the Volunteers a few troops of cavalry were ordered by 
the Lord Lieutenant to assist in keeping the Volunteer 
lines at a review in the Phoenix Park. But an accidental 
circumstance some time afterwards occurred, which 
showed the necessity for cultivating that cordiality, 011 
the continuation of which the tranquillity of the nation so 
entirely depended. 

VI. Lieutenant Doyne, of the second regiment of 
Horse, marching to relieve the guards in Dublin Castle, 


91 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 

fit the head of the cavalry, came accidentally, on Essex 
Bridge, directly at right angles with a line of Volunteer 
infantry commanded by Lord Altamont. An instant 
embarrassment took place—one party must halt, or the 
other could not pass: neither would recede—etiquette 
seemed likely to get the better of prudence—the cavalry 
advanced—the Volunteers continued their progress, till 
they were nearly in contact; never did a more critical 
moment exist in Ireland. Had one drop of blood been 
shed, through the impetuosity of either officer, even in 
that silly question of precedence, the Irish Volunteers 
would have beat to arms, from north to south, in every 
part of the kingdom, and British connection would cer¬ 
tainly been shaken to its very foundation. 

As the cavalry advanced, Lord Altamont commanded 
bis corps to continue their march, and incline their 
bayonets, so as to be ready to defend their line. The 
cavalry officer, wisely reflecting, that by the pause even 
of a single moment, every possibility of disagreement 
would be obviated, halted his men for an instant—the 
Volunteers passed on—and the affair ended without fur¬ 
ther difficulty. 

This circumstance, however trivial, was quickly circu¬ 
lated, and increased the public clamour. Resolutions 
were entered into by almost every military corps, and 
every corporate body, that they would no longer obey 
any laws, save those enacted by the King, Lords, and 
Commons of Ireland; and this spirit gradually embraced 
the whole population, till at length it ended in the cele¬ 
brated resolutions of Dungannon, which established the 
short lived independence of that nation. 

VII. William Duke of Leinster had long been the 
favourite and the patron of the Irish people, and never 
did the physiognomist enjoy a more fortunate elucidation 
of his science: the softness of philanthropy—the placi- 
di:y of temper—the openness of sincerity—the sympathy 
of friendship—and the ease of integrity—stamped cor- 
tesponding impressions on his artless countenance, and 
left but little to conjecture as to the composition of his 
character. 

His elevated rank and extensive connections gave him 
i. caramount lea l in Irish politics, which his naked talents 

o 


98 


RISE AND FALL 


would not otherwise have justified ; though his capacity 
was respectable, it was not brilliant, and his abilities 
were not adapted to the highest class of political pre¬ 
eminence.* On public subjects, his conduct sometimes 
wanted energy, and his pursuits perseverance; in some 
points he was weak, and in some instances erroneous, 
but in all he was honest: from the day of his maturity 
to the moment of his dissolution he was the undeviating 
friend of the Irish nation—he considered its interests and 
his own indissolubly connected—alive to the oppressions 
and miseries of the people, his feeling heart participated 
in their misfortunes, and felt the smart of every lash 
which the scourge of power inflicted on his country. As 
a soldier, and as a patriot, he performed his duties; and 
in his plain and honourable disposition, was found col¬ 
lected a happy specimen of those qualities which best 
compose the character of an Irish gentleman. 

He took an early and active part in promoting the for¬ 
mation and discipline of the Volunteer associations, he 
raised many corps and commanded the Dublin Army. 
The ancient celebrity of his family, the vast extent of his 
possessions, and his affability in private intercourse, co¬ 
operated with his own popularity in extending his in¬ 
fluence and few persons ever enjoyed a more general and 
merited influence amongst the Irish people. 

The Irish Catholics, at this period, were much attached 
to the Geraldines, and pursued a conduct so meritorious, 
that even the bitterest enemies of that body acknowledged 
the uncommon merit of their conduct: their open friends 
multiplied, their secret enemies diminished, and they 
gradually worked themselves into the favour and confi¬ 
dence of their Protestant countrymen, though loaded with 
severe restrictions, though put out of the pale of the 
British constitution, and groaning under the most cruel 
and unjust oppression, they were active and patriotic, 
they forgot the tyranny under which they groaned, and 
only felt the chains which fettered and oppressed their 
country; a general union of all sects seemed to be cement¬ 
ing—the animosity of ages was sinking into oblivion, and 

* The political abilities of his Grace were likened, by a gentleman ol 
great public talent, to “ a fair fertile field, without either a weed or « 
wild flower in it.” 


OF THE IRISH NATION 


99 


it was reserved for the incendiaries of a ater period to 
revive that barbarous sectarian discord—a weapon, with¬ 
out which the British Government would have ever found 
Ireland too proud for the influence of power, and too 
strong for the grasp of annexation. 

The doctrine of pure democracy was then but a weak 
exotic, to which the heat of civil war in America had 
given the principle of vegetation. In Ireland, it was 
uncongenial to the minds, and unadapted to the charactei 
of the people ; and during the whole progress of those 
events, which preceded the attainment of Irish indepen¬ 
dence, its progress was only observable in the intimate 
association of the distant ranks in military bodies, and 
the idea of revolution never extended further than to 
attain the undisturbed enjoyment of a free Parliament, 
and to remove for ever the ascendency of the British 
Government over the crown of Ireland. 

VIII. Notwithstanding all these occurrences, the 
British people, in their nature jealous and egotistical, 
still remained obstinately blind to the true state of Ire¬ 
land enjoying the blessings of independence, 'under a 
resident monarch and an unfettered parliament—they 
felt interested only in their own aggrandizement—theii 
solicitude extended solely to their own concerns—and 
Avithout reflecting that the same advantages which they 
so liberally possessed, were denied to Ireland, they attri¬ 
buted the uneasiness of that nation rather to innate 
principles of disaffection, than the natural result of misery 
and oppression. 

Every element of a free constitution had been torn 
away by the rough hand of a foreign legislature, enacting 
laws, to which the representatives of the Irish people 
were utter strangers. Yet this usurpation had been 
sanctioned by the dictum of a British judge, who added 
to his reputation, by giving an unqualified opinion for 
Irish slavery.* 

* It is painful to see a British judge and commentor—whose duty it 
was at least to respect the vital principles of that constitution under which 
he acted—-giving a decisive opinion for “ legislation without representa¬ 
tives,” and, in the case of Ireland, condemning that sentinel, by whose 
vigilance alone the property, the liberty, and the lives of Englishmen 
sue protected. 


[00 


RISE AND FALL 


IX. The salaries of the Judges of Ireland were then 
barely sufficient to keep them above want, and they held 
their offices only during the will of the British Minister, 
who might remove them at his pleasure: all Irish justice, 
therefore, was at his control. In all questions between 
the Crown and the people, the purity of the judge was 
consequently suspected: if he could not be corrupted, he 
might be cashiered, the dignity of his office was lost in 
his dependence, and he was reduced to the sad alternative 
of poverty or dishonour; nor was this grievance lessened 
by many of the judges being sent over from England, 
prejudiced against the Irish, and unacquainted with 
ffieir customs. 

The Irish Parliament, at this period, met but once in 
two years, and in the British Attorney General was 
vested the superintendence of their proceedings, and the 
British Privy Council the alteration and rejection of their 
statutes ; and the declination or ruin of her commerce 
was at least a matter of indifference, if not of triumph, to 
the British monopolists. 

These grievances, in themselves almost intolerable, 
were greatly aggravated by the abuses which had been 
creeping into the executive and legislative department of 
the British Government, and infected every proceeding 
adopted as to Ireland. 

X. However, the British Government found that 
resistance had now become impossible, and something 
more must be done. The Irish Viceroy, therefore, was 
instructed to act according to the best of his judgment. 
Accordingly, on the 9th of October, 1781, he, for the first 
time met the Irish Parliament with a speech from the 
throne ; which, though received with great cordiality by 
the House, upon a close investigation, appears a compo¬ 
sition of the most Jesuitical sophistry; it complimented 
the country on a prosperity which it never enjoyed— 
expressed a solicitude for its interest, which was never 
experienced, and promised future favours, which were 
never intended to be conceded, and was mingled, at the 

His zeal to support this arbitrary principle over Ireland, blinded him 
to its operation as to the rest of the world, disentitled him rather to the 
character of a constitutional lawyer, and stamped him with that of a 
miserable statesman. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


101 


same time with recommendations the most vague, and 
observations the most frivolous. The good temper of the 
House, however, was so excited by the cordial assurances 
it contained, it was received with general approbation, 
and Mr. John O’Neill, of Shane’s Castle, the first Com¬ 
moner of Ireland, was very wisely prevailed upon, by the 
Secretary, to move an address of thanks to his Majesty, 
for this gracious communication of his minister with a 
view that the weight and character of this gentleman 
might excite that unanimity at the present crisis so very 
desirable, and which must be so highly advantageous to 
the Irish Government. 

Mr. John O’Neill, descended from the most celebrated 
chiefs of ancient Ireland, bore in his portly and graceful 
mien indications of a proud and illustrious pedigree; the 
generous openness of his countenance, the grandeur of his 
person, and the affability of his address, marked the 
dignity of his character, and blending with the benevolence 
of his disposition, formed him one of the first Commoners 
of the Irish nation, a rank from which he so unfortunately 
sunk, by humbling his name to the level of purchased 
peerages, and descending from the highest bench of the 
Commons to the lowest among the Nobles. 

In public and in private life Mr. O’Neill was equally 
calculated to command respect, and conciliate affection ; 
high minded, open, and well educated, he clothed the 
sentiments of a patriot in the language of a gentleman; 
his abilities were moderate, but his understanding was 
sound—unsuspecting, because he was himself incapable 
of deception, he too frequently trusted to the judgment of 
others that conduct which would have been far more 
respectably regulated by his own; though he did not 
shrink from the approbation of the court, he preferred 
the applauses of his country, and formed one of the most 
perfect models of an aristocratic patriot. 

This step, however, was instantly succeeded by a 
measure, which did honour to the patriotic spirit of Mr. 
O’Neill, and preserved his character in that station, from 
which it might have sunk had he concluded his observa¬ 
tions, by the fulsome and indecisive address which he had 
bo injudiciously patronized. 

As soon as the address to Ms Majesty had passed, Mr 
9 ' 


m2 


RISE AND FALL 


O’Neill moved a resolution of thanks to u all the Volun¬ 
teers of Ireland, for their exertions and continuance.” 
This motion was received with exultation by the opposition 
and created a new embarrassment to the Minister. To 
return thanks to an independent army for their exertions 
and continuance, which acknowledged no military supe¬ 
riority, and called, with arms in their hands, upon their 
Irish king to restore their civil rights and plundered con¬ 
stitution, was a step, undoubtedly, not warranted by 
precedent; but prompt decision was necessary, and the 
then Mr. John Fitzgibbon, in one of the first efforts of 
that decided but inconsiderate impetuosity which distin¬ 
guished him throughout life, harshly opposed Mr. O’Neill’s 
motion, but by endeavouring to support Government he 
deeply embarrassed it; and Mr. Scott the Attorney 
General, on that occasion showed, in its strongest colours 
the advantages of well regulated policy. He instantly 
acceded to what he could not oppose, and gave an 
appearance of full approbation on the part of the Govern¬ 
ment, to an address of thanks to those men, whom nothing 
but that political duplicity which he so amply possessed, 
could have induced him to consent to. 

All opposition to the motion, therefore, fell to the 
ground. Mr. Fitzgibbon,who, however, never relinquished 
an object, from a conviction of its impropriety, though he 
persisted in his opposition, was reluctantly necessitated to 
give way, and an address to the armed Volunteers of Ire¬ 
land was unanimously voted, and directed to be circulated 
throughout all Ireland, and to be communicated by the 
Sheriffs of the counties to the corps within their bailiwicks. 

Never had a measure been adopted, which gave so 
sudden and singular a change to the aspect of affairs in 
Ireland. It seemed to reverse all the maxims of former 
Governments, and gave to the people an ascendency they 
had never expected. It legalized a military levy, inde¬ 
pendent of the Sovereign, and obliged the Ministers to 
applaud the exertions, and court the continuance of an 
army, whose dispersion was the leading object of all 
their councils. 

This resolution made a considerable progress towards 
the actual emancipation of the Irish people; it brought 
down the British Government to the feet of the Volun- 


THE IRISH NATION. 


m 


Users, and raised the Volunteers above the supremacy of 
Britain, by a direct Parliamentary approbation of self¬ 
armed, self-governed, and self-disc, plined associations, 
whos'e motto* bespoke the fundamental principle of revo¬ 
lution of which England had given the precedent. 

It also taught the people the strength of their own 
arms and the timidity of their opponents, they perceived, 
by the unanimous adoption of this resolution, that the 
people had only to march, and as certainly to conquer. 
It was, in fact, a flag of truce from the minister, and proved 
to the world, that unable to contend he was preparing to 
capitulate. 

In reflecting on the circumstances which led the 
Government to this concession, observations on the moral 
and physical strength of the nation must naturally occur. 
The Irish nation saturated with patriotic spirit, by a union 
of its mental and corporeal energies, had united in its 
narrow focus all the moral and physical powers of which 
a people are susceptible. 

* The motto of the Barristers’ corps of Volunteers, which alwayi 
took the lead of, and, in most instances, gave the precedent to, all the 
pt’ner corps, was—“ Vox Populi suprema Lex est” —a maxim which, 
whilst it gives the widest latitude of construction to *he first principle* 
|1 the constitution, would open too wide a door to democratic authority, 
Biless guarded against by the system of delegated representation 


104 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER VI. 

Observations as to the strength of a people—German mercenaries—Fur* 
ther subject of discontent in Ireland—Dispute between Ireland and 
Poitugal—Portugal encouraged in her hostility towards Ireland by the 
British Minister—Perseverance of Portugal—Mr. Fitzgibbon’s inotior 
—Sir Lucius O’Brien—Proposes that Ireland in her own right should 
declare war against Portugal—Sir J. Blaquiere—Effects of Sir Lucius 
O’Brien’s amendment—Distinctness of Ireland proved—Federative 
compact—Arguments for and against prompt proceedings—Spirited 
reasoning of the Irish—No Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland—Determi¬ 
nation of the Volunteers—Origin and progress of delegated assemblies 
—The Northern Irish—Dungannon meeting—Mr. Dobbs—Extraordi¬ 
nary mind—His eccentricity—Theories—Colonel Irwin—Account of 
the Dungannon meeting continued—Dungannon resolutions. 

I. When the physical strength only of a nation is em¬ 
ployed in the accomplishment of its objects, however 
great its bodily force, it loses the advantages of its dead 
weight, by the absence of that animating fire of intellect, 
which alone gives real vigour to bodily exertion : clumsy 
powers, mechanical discipline, and compulsory obedience, 
must ever yield to the force of an opposing body, where 
both the moral and the physical powers of the people are 
blended and inseparable. 

It is only, therefore, by a union of those qualities, that 
a limited population becomes invincible. The vigour of 
the body receives inexhaustible subsistence from the 
energy of the mind, and bids defiance to any power where 
these qualities are not united. 

Thus circumstanced were the Irish people at the 
moment of this resolution : and perhaps in no former 
period of modern history has any nation been discovered 
in so powerful and commanding a position. It »vas a 
triumphant moment. 

A population above five millions, whose moral and phy¬ 
sical powers were so intimately united, that the whole 
nation seemed one great and active giant, endowed with 
all the warlike qualities of the human race—one heart— 
one soul—and one object. 


OF THE IRISH NATION.. 


105 


Though prejudice and intolerance had limited the pos¬ 
session of arms to a comparatively very small proportion 
of the people, yet it was difficult to determine whether 
the armed or disarmed were most zealous for theit 
country’s liberties. The armed and disciplined Volun¬ 
teers by this time exceeded in numbers the whale regular 
military force of the British empire, while those, who, in 
case of action, would pant to supply the ranks of their 
fallen countrymen, numerically surpassed the whole 
organized military power of the European continent. 
This great force also, from the smallness of the island, 
was collected in a narrow space, its powers were concen¬ 
trated, its resources were always within its grasp, the 
sound of the horn could reach from one village to the 
other, every man was ready to obey its call, and the 
whole population was prepared to rush to every station 
where it would be most likely to attain its liberty and 
independence. 

It was impossible for a reflecting mind not to contrast 
ihe noble fire and voluntary spirit which at that time 
raised, and embodied in patriotic bands, an entire people 
for the sole purpose of supporting, with their lives and 
property, the purest principles of constitutional freedom 
—with these troops of foreign principalities, who, at the 
same moment, were employed, not as fair auxiliaries by 
treaty on principles, but as mere mercenary automata, 
collected to suppress the natural liberties of America, 
and who, had they been successful there, would have 
attempted their next triumph over the independence of 
Ireland—vassals, purchased from the avarice of petty 
German princes, who filled their narrow treasuries by 
measuring out the blood of their peasantry to the highest 
bidder and transporting their wretched subjects to put 
down the eternal rights of civilized society—men, who 
had no object but their pay, i:o enthusiasm but for plun¬ 
der ; bought by mercenary treaty from the potentates of 
the old world to butcher the inhabitants of the new, sold 
like the oxen of the field for like profit and like slaughter, 
and, as the combatants of the brute creation, fighting 
only through a vicious instinct, and seeking no higher 
glory than to gore their fellow animals. 

II. Notwithstanding the avowed disposition of the 


106 


RISE AND FALL 


British Legislature to concede full commercial liberty to 
[reland, intrigues were soon fomented by monopolists, to 
render abortive, or diminish as much as possible, the 
advantages of the concessions: and, amongst other cir¬ 
cumstances of that nature, one—of the greatest impor¬ 
tance, in every point of view, constitutional as well as 
commercial—occurred, which excited throughout Ireland 
well founded suspicions as to the sincerity of Great 
Britain. 

By the resolutions of the British Legislature, Ireland 
had been admitted to export her linen and woollen manu¬ 
factures to Portugal, agreeable to the provisions of the 
treaty of Methuen, from which liberty she had been pre¬ 
viously and explicitly prohibited by express statutes. 
The Irish merchant taking advantage of this concession 
—liberated from these commercial restrictions, and left 
freely to wing his way to all the amicable ports of 
Europe—immediately exported a considerable quantity 
of Irish manufactures to Portugal; but .to the surprise of 
the Irish people, the Portuguese Ministry peremptorily 
refused to receive Irish manufactures into their ports, and 
not only absolutely prohibited their importation, but 
seized on the property of the Irish merchants! 

This strong and unaccountable proceeding being 
adopted by a nation, not only in profound peace with 
Great Britain, but by a people always dependent upon 
her for protection, subservient to her views, and obedient 
to her wishes, and by a court where a British Minister 
resided, and in ports where British Consuls were resident, 
it was palpable, that such a step never durst have been 
adopted by the Court of Portugal without at least the 
connivance of the British Cabinet. It was incredible 
that a nation, almost dependent upon the will of England, 
would presume to insult a federative portion of the 
British King’s dominions, and it became necessary to in¬ 
vestigate the grounds of so unwarrantable a proceeding. 

No doubt could exist that the active jealousy of the 
British manufacturers had been roused by the resolutions 
in favour of Ireland, and that the trade of England 
might be somewhat affected by these resolutions. The 
avarice of the British monopolists would naturally take 
hvery secret method of counteracting advantages, the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


107 


pcssession of which, by Ireland, would certainly operate 
Bomewhat as a drawback upon their own ; and (he Bri¬ 
tish Minister durst not displease the British trade. 

The Irish merchants soon felt the effects of their exclu¬ 
sion. Their new spirit of enterprise was damped, the 
earliest commercial exertions of Ireland were paralyzed, 
their speculations extinguished, and the whole transac¬ 
tion appeared to be of the most suspicious character. 

The Irish, as a nation, now felt themselves not only 
aggrieved, but sorely insulted. The merchants of Dub¬ 
lin, through their Recorder, Sir Samuel Broadstreet, pre¬ 
sented a petition to parliament, expressive of their suffer¬ 
ings. Mr. Eden, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, who 
generally affected to be well disposed towards that coun¬ 
try, had recourse to the usual diplomatic plausibility— 
arguing on the impolicy of precipitation, and the disin¬ 
terested feelings of the British—he resisted any imme¬ 
diate resolution on the subject, but moved that this trans¬ 
action, and the fair and just petition of the first commer¬ 
cial body in Ireland should lie on the table, and wait for 
the result of negociations, the commencement of which 
,vas uncertain, and the termination of which would cer- 
ainly be protracted. 

This proceeding, however, did not satisfy the Irish 
nation; and, as is generally the case of impolitic, short¬ 
sighted evasion, that line of conduct which was intended 
to quiet the subject, and evade the investigation, served 
to raise it into greater notice, and excited a latitude of 
discussion which the Irish Government had never dreamed 
of, and which ultimately became highly serviceable to the 
cause of liberty. 

Some negociations were certainly carried on by the 
British Ministers with the Court of Portugal upon the 
subject, but without that sincerity which could effect their 
purposes. Portugal could have no just cause to resist the 
admission of Irish manufactures into her ports; she had 
no distinct treaties with Ireland, and no foreign treaties 
hostile to the interests of the British empire; she relied 
on the good will of England and of Ireland for the recep¬ 
tion of her own wines, on which so great a proportion of 
her commerce depended; yet yielding to the secret ma¬ 
chinations of interested English merchants, she depended 


108 


RISE AND FALL 


on the feebleness and incapacity of Ireland to resist hei 
determination, and on the disposition of England to favour 
her monopolists. Nor was she deceived in her expecta¬ 
tion. The deceptive remonstrances of the British Minis¬ 
try ended in the perseverance of Portugal; and, at the 
commencement of the ensuing session, Mr. Eden found 
Ireland in a state of general agitation, and it became 
absolutely necessary to retreat from his mean system of 
procrastination—a line of conduct now too palpable, and 
which the Irish nation would no longer submit to—and 
feeling it impossible any further to evade the discussion, 
Mr. Eden, with an address and skill, highly useful on 
many occasions to a Minister, determined to anticipate a 
subject which he knew must come forward, and, as a 
Minister, unexpectedly snatch from the Opposition the 
merit of the inquiry. 

Mr. Eden, on this occasion, with all the symptoms of 
sincerity, commenced his statement by representing the 
strong and unavailing efforts of England to bring the 
Court of Portugal to a due sense of its impropriety; and 
concluded by declaring, that notwithstanding every effort, 
the Minister of Portugal had given a final and adverse 
answer to the rightful claims of Ireland. 

This statement, however plausible, could not escape the 
sagacious penetration of many members; and it appeared 
clearly, that Mr. Eden had determined, by this means, to 
rid himself of responsibility, by employing a person of 
less compunction than himself. 

The person who was thus selected for the purpose g! 
again sacrificing the rights of his country, was the sam «3 
Mr. J. Pitzgibbon, who, in the arrogant and able manner 
so peculiar to himself, seemed rather to command than 
move an address to his Majesty, as if it was of his own 
composition, though in fact it was the production of the 
Secretary. In this address, he prayed “ His Majesty to 
take into his consideration the subject (already discussed,) 
and to apply for a redress’ 7 ' (already decidedly negatived) 
—and the whole address was couched in terms feeble, 
fulsome, and indecisive, unbecoming the dignity and the 
importance of any independent nation. 

This vapid and insidious measure was warmly opposed 
by the real friends of Ireland; and Sir Lucius O’Brien, 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


i09 


with a spirit and language which spoke his real attach¬ 
ment to the interests of his country, and a perfect know¬ 
ledge of its commercial rights, moved an amendment to 
Mr. Fitzgibben’s address—the terms of which form a very 
remarkable circumstance in Irish history—and by its pe¬ 
remptory and independent language, led directly to the 
consideration of national rights and constitutional distinct¬ 
ness, which, till that period, had never been so strongly 
expressed or so decisively put in issue. 

III. Sir Lucius O'Brien was descended from one of 
the most ancient and illustrious of the aboriginal Irish 
families, a large part of whose fortune he still retained, 
and by means of a rational understanding, and very ex¬ 
tensive aud accurate commercial information, he acquired 
a considerable degree of public reputation; though his 
language was bad, his address miserable, and his figure 
and action unmeaning and whimsical, yet, as his matter 
was good, his reasoning sound, and his conduct spirited 
and independent, he was attended to with respect; and, 
in return, always conveyed considerable information. 

Sir Lucius was always strong and decisive; he carried 
with him at least a portion of that weight which justly 
appertained to his information, his family, and his cha¬ 
racter. 

Mr. Fitzgibbon’s motion was most strongly reprobated 
by Sir Lucius; but aware that he could not completely 
defeat the measure, he moved an amendment of a grand 
and novel nature which, if adopted, would have placed 
Ireland on a pinnacle. This amendment called upon his 
Majesty, as King of Ireland to assert the rights of that 
kingdom, by hostility with Portugal , and concluding 
with these remarkable expressions—“ we doubt not that 
nation has vigour and resources sufficient to maintain all 
her rights, and asto?iish all her enemies ! n —at once man¬ 
fully asserting the constitutional independence, and pub¬ 
lishing the military power, of his country, and giving to 
England herself a wholesome hint of her spirit and deter 
mi nation. 

The boldness of this motion, its promptitude, its vigour, 
its consequences, made an instantaneous and visible im¬ 
pression on the whole House; it was at once a declara¬ 
tion of war, a declaration of rights, and a declaration of 

10 


no 


RISE AND PALL 


superiority; it gave a new * haracter to the Irish Parlia¬ 
ment, and a new existence to the Irish people. But they 
were not yet sufficiently prepared to receive the impres¬ 
sion with conclusive effect, their chains were not yet 
loosened, they had not been enlarged from their prison, 
and however disposed to adopt this spirited and vigorous 
proceeding, their keepers were yet too numerous and too 
strong to permit their liberation. 

The motion of Mr. Fitzgibbon was, however, opposed 
by many of the first characters in Ireland; and even 
some friends of Government, ashamed of its imbecility, 
refused to support it. Sir John Blaquiere, an habitual 
supporter of the Minister, holding offices and pensions, 
and who had been himself a Minister, spiritedly, amongst 
others, gave it his decided negative. However, after a 
warm- and animated debate, the Secretary succeeded, and 
Mr. Fitzgibbon added a new thorn to that goad with 
which he endeavoured to drive, but which he finally 
found had only the effect of irritating, his country. 

IV. Sir Lucius O’Brien’s amendment gave the keenest 
spur to the cause of national independence. The King 
of Ireland , required by an Irish Parliament, and his Irish 
subjects, to take hostilities on behalf of Ireland , against 
a foreign nation with which England had no quarrel, 
exhibited a new scene to an enlightened people, and soon 
excited thoughts and inquiries, which led to the impor¬ 
tant discussion that soon followed, and at length attained 
their emancipation. 

An inquiry into the nature of the federative compact 
between England and Ireland was now excited and 
occupied every thinking mind throughout the' latter 
country; it was a subject which the depressed state of 
Ireland had heretofore suspended: so desperate had been 
its situation—so desponding the people—so hopeless its 
redress—that the nature of that connection had been 
hardly considered worthy of discussion : and though its 
abuses had been frequently resisted, its principles had 
never been defined. 

So soon, however, as the people learned that their 
connection with England was strictly federative, that 
the King of Ireland might, in right of his Irish crown, 
make Wc r with a foreign Power, without the King ol 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


Ill 


England (as such) being a principal in the contest, that 
Ireland was, in fact, an independent nation, connected 
with England only by the identity of the Monarch, and 
that the King governed Ireland only in right of his Irish 
crown, and not as a part of the realm of Great Britain , 
the features of the Irish constitution soon became familiar 
to the people, a distinctness perfectly apparent and une¬ 
quivocally proved, by the language and the conduct of 
the British Ministers themselves, who calmly permitted 
Portugal to insult and injure Ireland, without treating it 
with insult to, or aggression against the Crown of Great 
Britain. 

This unanswerable reasoning, and these indisputable 
facts, now engrossed almost the exclusive consideration 
of all the armed associations. It was manifest that, in 
every point of view, Ireland had been denied the rights 
of a free constitution, though, in every point of view, she 
was entitled to enjoy it ; if she was to be considered 
merely as a partner of the British empire, she was then 
entitled to the full rights and advantages of the whole 
British constitution, but if, on the other hand, she was 
connected with England solely as a federative state, she 
was then decidedly entitled to enjoy the distinct rights 
and advantages of a distinct constitution ; but, in fact, 
she enjoyed neither the one nor the other, and that usur¬ 
pation of Government, though sanctioned by the statutes 
of the usurping Power, could never bind the constitutional 
rights and prerogatives of the suffering Nation, longer 
than until it could mature the power of resistance. 

V. The reason and the justice of these considerations 
penetrated the understanding of the people, in every 
quarter of the nation. The Volunteers reflected, that 
the remedy was with themselves—their grievances were 
heavy—their means ample—their determination decisive 
—and their redress attainable. If the Parliament would 
not act, the people would—if the representatives were 
corrupt, the constituents were honest. Nothing was 
necessary but a declaration of the rights of the Nation, 
and of the will of the People—and England, already 
humbled, disgraced, and dispirited by America, had lost 
the means and the spirit of opposition—and would con- 


112 


RISE AND FALL. 


cede, however reluctantly, to the just claims of a free and 
defined constitution to Ireland. 

On the other hand, it was suggested, by those whose 
irresolution, timidity, or corruption, still endeavoured to 
damp the spirit and curb the impetuosity of the nation, 
that, circumstanced as England was, it would be unge¬ 
nerous to take xdvantage of her feeble moment— to 
enforce, by threat, those claims which her late conduct 
evidently showed a disposition to concede without force 
or reluctance ; that it would be. more magnanimous to 
wait till Great Britain had recovered from her panic, and 
from her dangers—to give her time to breathe—and re 
ceive from her friendship and generosity those certain 
and amicable concessions, which would be more gratify¬ 
ing and more permanent, than those acquired by hum¬ 
bling her pride, and taking advantage of her weakness. 
But this reasoning, peculiarly adapted to the open and 
generous character of the Irish people, was, in this in¬ 
stance, too feeble to be attended to, and recourse was had 
to another line of argument. 

It was stated that Ireland had no navy to protect her 
commerce—no wealth to support a contest—and, after a 
destructive effort, might ultimately fall into the trammels 
of England, with lost claims and diminished importance. 
But this reasoning only added to the spirit of the nation, 
its pride was roused, its jealousy excited, arguments ill 
adapted to a people, who had lately acquired a thorough 
knowledge of its own powers and resources, who were 
now unanimously leagued against usurpation, and who, 
after an inactivity of almost a century, had once more 
been roused to that pastime of arms, which had ever 
been the favourite and predominant passion of the Irish 
people, from the moment their island had been peopled. 
They said, that it was neither ungenerous nor dishon¬ 
ourable to catch the favourable moment of rescuing, from 
an usurping power, those liberties which had been 
wrested from the weakness of their ancestors, and there¬ 
fore retained from them through the feebleness of them¬ 
selves, that it is never necessary for the plundered to 
await the awakening of plunderers to take back their 
property , that the favourable moment might never recur, 
and that the laws of God, of Man, and of Nature, prescribe 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


113 


no peculiar moment to assert the liberties of a people, or 
arrest the oppression of an usurper. 

Those grievances which Irishmen so loudly complained 
of, and those constitutional rights which they so resolutely 
demanded, were numerous and indispensable to the lib¬ 
erty not only of the nation, but of the individual. Ire¬ 
land had then no security for either ; the Judges depen¬ 
dant on the Crown, the army independent of the Parlia¬ 
ment, her Legislature at the feet of the British Attorney 
General, and the people bound by the laws of Scotch and 
English delegates, altogether formed the means and basis 
of a despotism, which the caprice or displeasure of Eng¬ 
land might at any time put in practice, if she were strong 
enough. 

VI. The precarious state of personal liberty in Ireland, 
was one of the most glaring grievances, the want of a 
Habeas Corpus statute gave absolute power to any 
Government which might venture experiments of a 
despotic nature, and enabled the Minister to suppress, in 
the very first instance the liberty of the press—the ablest 
advocate of reform—the most powerful auxiliary of 
freedom. But it was now too late, the people were united, 
and their divisions suspended or forgotten; it would have 
been desperate to have resorted o the hand of power 
and in vain to attempt any measure but conciliation. 
England was reduced to the singular and humiliating 
situation of stooping to the dictates ol an inferior country 
-—and beholding her arrogant and arbitrary Ministers 
treating, with ail the courtesy of fawning courtiers, a 
people armed in defiance of their authority, and conced¬ 
ing to the peremptory demands of the Irish nation, those 
rights which had been refused, not only by themselves, 
but by every former Government of Great Britain. 

A repeal of the English statute of the 6th of George 
the First, was the first and most indispensable measure 
to be effected—and it required no logical deductions to 
prove to the armed Volunteers, that the attainment even 
of all their objects would probably, at a future day, 
become void and nugatory, unless they tore up by the 
root that standard of usurpation. The effects and ope¬ 
ration of this statute became perfectly understood, 
and formed one of the insufferable of those grievances, 

10 * 


114 


RISE AND FALL 


which the Volunteers, at every risk, were determined x 
abolish.* 

VII. An explicit and detailed declaration of the people’s 
rights was now demanded in every part of the nation; 
the press teemed with publications on the subjects best 
calculated to call patriotism into activity: the doctrines 
of Swift, of Molyneux, and of Lucas, were re-published 
in abstract pamphlets, and placed in the hands of every 
man who could read them; their principles were recog¬ 
nized and disseminated; the Irish mind became enlight¬ 
ened ; and a revolution in literature w^s made auxiliary 
to a revolution in liberty. 

Delegates from all the armed bodies of the people were 
regularly appointed by their respective corps, and met, 
for the purpose of giving additional weight and impor¬ 
tance to their resolves, by conjointly declaring their 
sentiments and their determination. These meetings, 
first confined to districts, soon multiplied, and extended 

* Nothing can more clearly speak the determined spirit of the Volun¬ 
teers—than the following Resolutions, entered into about this time bv 
the Volunteer corps of the city of Dublin, published in all the Newspa- 

{ >ers, and circulated throughout every part of the kingdom. The same 
anguage was generally adopted by the whole nation—and the Lord 
Lieutenant, immediately after the publication of these Resolutions, per¬ 
mitted the military bands of the regular army to attend a review of the 
very same corps in the Phoenix Park—to which they marched, playing 
the Volunteers march, under the windows of the Castle, and in the view 
of his Excellency. 

“ At a meeting of the Corps of Dublin Volunteers, on Friday, the 1 st 
of March, 1782, his Grace the Duke of Leinster in the chair: 

“ Resolved, that the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland only are 
competent to make laws, binding the subjects of this realm; and that 
we will not obey, or give operation to any laws, save only those enacted 
by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland , whose rights and privi¬ 
leges, jointly and severally, we are determined to support with our lives 
and fortunes.” 

“ At a meeting of the Corps of Independent Dublin Volunteers, on 
Thursday, March 5th, 1782: 

“ Resolved, That we do not acknowledge the jurisdiction of any Par 
liament, save only the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland. 

“ Resolved, That we will, in every capacity, oppose the execution 
ni any statute, imposed upon us by the pretended authority of a British 
Parliament.” 

More than 200 resolutions to the same effect (many stronger) were 
quickly published by corps and regiments of Volunteers throughout 
Ireland. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


115 


themselves to the counties—thence to provinces—and at 
length to the united nation; their deliberations became 
regular and public, and their resolutions decisive—and 
at length the celebrated convention at Dungannon was 
convoked, which formed a most remarkable incident of 
Irish history, and one of the wisest and most temperate 
measures, that ever signalized the good sense, good con¬ 
duct, and the spirit of a people. 

The northern counties of Ireland, though not more 
spirited, more regular and more intelligent than the 
other provinces, took the lead in this celebrated meeting. 
The armed associations of Ulster first appointed delegates, 
to declare the sentiments of their province, in a general 
assembly; and, on the 15th day of February, 1782, one 
of the most solemn and impressive scenes which Ireland 
had ever witnessed, took place in the inconsiderable town 
of Dungannon. 

There were comparatively but few Roman Catholics 
in the northern counties of Ireland, and still fewer of the 
strictly Protestant religion. The population of Ulster 
were principally Dissenters, a people differing in character 
from the aboriginal inhabitants, fond of reform, and not 
hostile to equality, examining the constitution by its theory 
and seeking a recurrence to original principles, prone to 
mtolerancy, without being absolutely intolerants, and 
disposed to republicanism, without being absolutely 
republicans; of Scottish origen, they partook of many of 
the peculiarities of that hardy people: penetrating, harsh 
minded, persevering, selfish, frugal, by their industry they 
acquired individual, and by individual political indepen¬ 
dence, as brave, though less impetuous than the western 
and southern Irish, they are more invariably formidable; 
less slaves to their passions than to their interest, their 
habits are generally temperate, their address quaint, blunt, 
and ungracious, their dialect harsh and disagreeable— 
their persons hardy and vigorous. With these qualities, 
the Northern Irish convoked delegates from twenty-five 
thousand soldiers, to proclaim the sentiments of the Irish 
people. 

This celebrated meeting was conducted with a decorum, 
firmness, and discretion unknown to the popular meetings 
of other times and of other countries. Steady, silent, 


ti6 


RISE AND FALL 


and determined, two hundred delegated Volunteers, 
clothed in the uniform and armed with the arms of their 
respective regiments, marched, two and two, to the 
Church of Dungannon, a place selected for the sanctity 
of its nature, to give the greater solemnity to this memo¬ 
rable proceeding. 

The entrance of the Delegates into that sacred place, 
was succeeded by an awful silence, which pervaded the 
whole assembly; the glittering arms of two hundred 
patriots, for the first time selected by their countrymen, 
to proclaim the wrongs and grievances of the people, was 
in itself a scene so uncommon and so interesting, that 
many of those men, who were ready in a moment to shed 
the last drop of their blood in the cause of their country, 
rs soldiers were softened into tears, while contemplatively 
they surveyed that assembly, in which they were about to 
pledge themselves to measures irrevocably committing 
Ireland with her sister nation—the result of which must 
determine the future fate of themselves, their children, 
and their country. 

VIII. This memorable assemblage of patriotism and 
discretion, whose proceedings soon became a theme ol 
eulogium throughout every nation of Europe, was com¬ 
posed of men not of an ordinary description, they were 
generally persons of much consideration—selected for 
character and abilities, many of them persons of high 
rank and large fortune, some of them members of Par¬ 
liament, and all of them actuated by one heart, filled with 
one spirit, and determined upon one procedure. 

Amongst those who, at this meeting, first distinguished 
themselves, was Mr. Francis Dobbs, who afterwards 
became a person of singular reputation, the mere incidents 
of whose life have nothing to engage diffusely the pen of 
an historian; no great transitions of rank, no deep 
depressions, no unexpected elevation, no blaze of genius, 
110 acts of heroism distinguished his moderate and peace¬ 
able progress through the world, but the extraordinary 
bent of his understanding, and the whimsical, though 
splendid extravagances of his eccentric mind, introduced 
him into a notice, which the common exercises of his talent 
would never have effected. 

Francis Dobbs was a gentleman of respectable family 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


11 


but of moderate fortune, he had been educated for the 
bar, where he afterwards acquired some reputation as a 
constitutional lawyer, and much as a zealous advocate, 
but his intellect was of an extraordinary description ; he 
seemed to possess two distinct minds, the one adapted to 
the duties of his profession, and the usual offices of society, 
the other, diverging from its natural centre, led him 
through wilds and ways, rarely frequented by the human 
understanding, entangled him in a maze of contemplative 
deduction from revelation to futurity, and frequently 
decoyed his judgment beyond the frontiers of reason. His 
singularities, however, seemed so separate from his sober 
judgment, that each followed its appropriate occupation 
without interruption from the other, and left the theologist 
and the prophet sufficiently distinct from the lawyer and 
the gentleman. 

There were but few virtues he did not, in some degree, 
partake of, nor were there any vices discernible in his 
disposition; though obstinate and headstrong, he was 
gentle and philanthropic, and, with an ardent temper, he 
was inoffensive as an infant. 

By nature a patriot and an enthusiast, by science a 
lawyer and an historian, on common topics he was not 
singular, and on subjects of literature was informed and 
instructive; but there is sometimes a key in the human 
mind which cannot be touched without sounding those 
wild chords which never fail to interrupt the harmony of 
reason, and when expatiating on the subjects of antichrist 
and the millennium, his whole nature seemed to undergo 
a change, his countenance brightened up as if by the 
complacent dignity of a prophetic spirit, his language 
became earnest, sometimes sublime, always extraordinary 
and not unfrequently extravagant. 

These doctrines, however, he made auxiliaries to his 
view of politics, and persuaded himself of its application 
to Ireland and. the infallibility of his reasoning. Mankind 
has an eternal propensity to be seduced by the lure of 
new sects, and entangled in the trammels of inexplicable 
mysteries: and problems of theology, in their nature 
incapable of demonstration, are received with avidity by 
the greediness of superstition. 

Yet on these mysterious subjects M T Dotbs seemed 


ll8 RISE AND FALL 

to feel no difficulties, he devoted a great propoition of 
his time to the development of revelation, and attempted 
to throw strange and novel lights on divine prophecy. 
This was the string on which his reason seemed often to 
vibrate, and his positions all tended to one extraordinary 
conclusion. 

“ That Ireland was decreed by heaven to remain for 
ever an independent state, and was destined to the super¬ 
natural honour of receiving the antichrist; ” and this he 
laboured to prove from passages of Revelation. 

At the Dungannon meeting Mr. Dobbs first appeared 
as a delegate from a northern Volunteer corps, he was 
afterwards appointed a member of the national convention 
of Ireland for the province of Ulster, and will be found 
throughout the whole course of Irish events during his life, 
a distinguished and ardent advocate for the constitutional 
rights of his country. 

The deliberations of the Dungannon meeting were 
continued for several days without interruption or inter¬ 
mission ; its discussions were calm and dignified, its reso¬ 
lutions firm, moderate, and patriotic. Every member of 
that assembly, on taking his seat in the awful hall, felt 
the great importance and novelty of his delegation, as 
the elected representative of united civil and military 
bodies, blending the distinct functions of the armed soldier 
and of the deliberative citizen, to protect his country 
against the still more unconstitutional coalescence of a 
mercenary army, and an external legislature. 

Colonel Irwin, a northern gentleman of the highest 
respectability, of a discreet, moderate, and judicious, 
though active, steady, and spirited character, was called 
to the chair by the unanimous voice of the assembly, and 
conducted himself in that most important presidency, 
throughout the whole cf the business, with a moderation 
and decorum, which aid the cause, and never fail to give 
weight to the claims of a people. 

At length, on the 15th of February 1782, this assembly 
finally framed and agreed upon that celebrated decla¬ 
ration of rights and of grievances, under which the Irish 
nation had so long been languishing, and announced to 
the world the substantial causes by which its commerce 


OF THF. IRISH NATION. 119 

had been so long restrained, and every trace of a free 
constitution almost obliterated. 

To give the complexion of constitutional legality to 
the unprecedented organization of this meeting, it was 
thought judicious to refer pointedly to the first principle 
of popular freedom universally admitted, established, and 
acted upon in England by the Revolution, namely, “the 
people’s right of preparatory resistance to unconstitutional 
oppression.” The assembly therefore plainly recognized 
that principle by its first resolution: “ That citizens, by 
learning the use of arms, abandon none of their civil 
rights,” thereby asserting the otherwise questionable 
legality of a self-created military body, exercising also the 
deliberative functions of a civil delegation, and boldly 
bottoming the assertion of that right upon the very same 
principle which the Prince of Orange had used to usurp 
the throne of England, “ the popular expulsion of a 
tyrannical monarch.” 

This resolution was also wisely adapted to check all 
legal proceedings, or even ministerial cavil, as to the con¬ 
stitutionality of their meeting, by putting in direct issue 
with the British Government a previous question of right, 
which, if contested, must have drawn into public discussion 
and controversy the principles of the Revolution, and the 
very tenure of the crown of England: for the English 
nation had by that revolution exploded the doctrine of 
passive obedience, and acting or> that ground, had armed 
against their own sovereign, and put the sword of popular 
resistance into the hand of William, to cut away the 
allegiance of the Irish people even to his own father. 

The Dungannon meeting next proceeded to denounce, 
by subsequent resolutions, as altogether unconstitutional, 
illegal, and grievances, all British legislation over Ireland 
the law of Poyning, the restraint of Irish commerce, a 
permanent standing army in Ireland, the dependence of 
the superior judges on the crown, and consequently on 
the minister; and the assembly finally resolved to seek a 
redress of all those grievances, and invited the arm¬ 
ed bodies of the Dther provinces of Ireland to unite 
with them in the glorious cause of constitutional regene¬ 
ration. 

The most weighty grievances and claims of Ireland 


RISE AND FALL 


IW 

weie by these means, in the mildest and simplest language 
without argument or unnecessary observation, consoli¬ 
dated into one plain and intelligible body of resolutions, 
entered into by delegates from twenty-five thousand Ulster 
soldiers, and backed by the voice of above a million of 
inhabitants of that province, combining together the moral 
and physical strength of one of the strongest quarters of 
Ireland, all actuated by a fixed and avowed determina¬ 
tion to attain redress at every risk of life and fortune, and 
headed by the highest and most opulent gentlemen of that 
province, feeling the claims to be equally just and irresist¬ 
ible, and therefore not speculating on success without 
substantial grounds, or denouncing grievances without 
solid and just foundation. 

“ Whereas it has been asserted that Volunteers, as 
such, cannot with propriety debate or give their opinions 
on political subjects, or the conduct of parliaments or pub¬ 
lic men: 

“ Resolved unanimously, That a citizen, by learning 
the use of arms, does not abandon any of his civil rights. 

“ That a claim of any body of men, other than the 

KING, LORDS, AND COMMONS OF IRELAND, tO make laWS 

to bind this kingdom, is unconstitutional , illegal , arid a 
grievance . 

“ That the power exercised by the privy council of 
both kingdoms, under pretence of the law of Poyning , is 
unconstitutional and a grievance. 

“ That the ports < »f this country are by right open to 
all foreign countries, not at war with the King, and that 
any burthens thereupon, or obstructions thereto, save only 
by the parliament of Ireland, are unconstitutional , ille¬ 
gal, and grievances. 

“ That a mutiny bill, not limited in point of duration 
from session to session, is unconstitutional and a griev¬ 
ance. 

“ That the independence of judges is equally essential 
to the impartial administration of justice in Ireland, as in 
England ; and that the refusal or delay of this right to 
Ireland, makes a distinction where there should be no 
distinction; may excite jealousy where perfect union 
shoi Id prevail ; and is in itself unconstitutional and a 
gj ievance. 


OF THE HUSH NATION. 


121 


“ That it is our decided and unalterable determination 
to seek a redress of these grievances ; and we pledge 
ourselves to each other, and to our country, as freeholders, 
fellow-citizens, and men of honour, that we will, at every 
ensuing election, support those only who have supported 
us therein, and that we will use every constitutional means 
to make such our pursuit of redress, speedy and effectual. 

u That as men, and as Irishmen, as Christians, and as 
Protestants , we rejoice in the relaxation of the penal laws 
against our Roman Catholic fellow-subjects; and that we 
conceive the measure to be fraught with the happiest 
consequences to the union and prosperity of the inhabi¬ 
tants of Ireland. 

“ That four members from each county of the pro¬ 
vince of Ulster (eleven to be a quorum) be, and hereby 
are appointed, a committee till next general meeting, to 
act for the Volunteer corps here represented, and, as 
occasion shall require, to call general meetings of the 
province. 

“ That the said committee do appoint nine of their 
members to be a committee in Dublin, in order to com¬ 
municate with such other Volunteer associations in the 
other provinces, as may think proper to come to similar 
resolutions; and to deliberate with them on the most 
constitutional means of carrying them into effect.” 

The truth and simplicity of these resolutions, whilst 
they deh-od every imputation of party faction or of revo¬ 
lutionary disloyalty, yet convinced the minister that the 
Irish people would be no longer trifled with. By the 
firmness that was observed respecting them, the waver¬ 
ing were steadied, the too moderate, roused, and the too 
ardent, moderated, while the adverse were deterred by an 
anticipation of their success. Adapted to almost every 
class, and to the disposition of almost every character, 
their effect through all Ireland was electric, and the 
consequence fully answered the most sanguine hopes, nay 
wishes, of their framers. 

Having passed these resolutions, the assembly ad¬ 
journed, committing the further procedure to the coinci¬ 
dence and zeal of the other provinces of the nation ; and, 
with a discretion almost unparalleled, a body of patriots, 
who might in one week have collected a military force, 

li 


102 


RISE AND FALL 


which all the power of England could not then hava 
coped with, and, at the head of an irresistible army in a 
triumphant attitude, might have dictated their own terms 
to a trembling government, by their wise and temperate 
conduct avoided the horrors of a civil commotion, proved 
to the world the genuine attachment of Ireland to her 
sister country, and deliberately represented to Great Bri¬ 
tain the grievances, which, by more hostile proceedings, 
they could by their own power have redressed in a mo 
meat 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


123 


CHAPTER VII. 

rhe Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, declares for Irish Independence— 
Sketch of his character—Resistance to English Laws unanimously 
'decided on—Declaration of the Irish Volunteers disclaiming all Bri¬ 
tish authority—The Irish Judges dependent on the English Govern¬ 
ment—Numerical force of the Irish Volunteers—Dissenting Clergy¬ 
men—Their Leaders—State of the Irish Parliament—Members divi¬ 
ded into Classes—The leading members—Mr. Thomas Connolly— Mr. 
Yeirerton—His character 

This transaction, which, with reference to all its circum¬ 
stances, may be ranked as one of the most extraordinary 
incidents that have marked the page of modern history, 
brought .into notice a most singular personage—Frederick, 
Earl of Bristol,—an Englishman by birth, a British peer 
and bishop of Derry, who altogether adopted the views, 
and avowed himself a partizan for the rights of Ireland. 
Like many others of his profession, not content with 
ecclesiastical authority, he became ambitious of political 
power, and sought by patriotic professions and decisive 
conduct to place himself at the head of the Irish nation. 
Possessed of an immense revenue—by rank a temporal 
peer—by consecration a spiritual one—with powerful 
patronage, and extensive connections—he united most of 
the qualities best calculated to promote his objects,—and 
in particular, had acquired a vast popularity amongst the 
Irish, by the phenomenon of an English nobleman iden¬ 
tifying himself with the Irish nation, and appearing infe¬ 
rior to none in a zealous assertion of their rights against 
his own countrymen. It was a circumstance too novel 
and too important to escape their marked observation 
and a conduct too generous and magnanimous not tc 
excite the love, and call forth the admiration, of a grate 
ful people. 

The bishop, at one time, assumed nearly a royal state. 
Dressed in purple, he appeared in the streets of Dublin 
in a coach drawn by six horses, and attended by a troop 


124 


RISE AND FALL 


of light dragoons as a life-guard, which had been raised 
and was commanded by his nephew—the unfortunate 
and guilty George Robert Fitzgerald. 

He was a man of elegant erudition, extensive learning, 
and an enlightened and classical, but eccentric mind. 
Bold, ardent, and versatile,, he dazzled the vulgar by os¬ 
tentatious state, and worked upon the gentry by ease and 
condescension ; he affected public candour, and practised 
private cabal; without the profound dissimulation of 
Becket, or the powerful abilities of Wolsey, he was litfle 
inferior to either of them in their minor qualities ; and 
altogether formed an accomplished, active and splendid 
nobleman, a plausible and powerful prelate, and a seem¬ 
ingly disinterested and zealous patriot. He was admira¬ 
bly calculated to lead on an inflamed and injured people; 
and had there been no counteracting discretion in the 
country—at a crisis, too, when almost any measure could 
nave been carried by boldness, popularity, and perseve¬ 
rance—it is more than probable his views might have 
extended to the total separation of the two nations. 

II. But though the voice of the people had decided 
unanimously upon two points, namely, national indepen¬ 
dence and a redress of grievances ; yet many different 
shades of opinion existed among some of the leading 
characters, as to the precise time and modes of proceed¬ 
ing to attain those objects. The moderate and cautious 
party in general followed the indecisive and feeble coun¬ 
sels of Earl Charlemont; whilst the more bold, decisive, 
and straight-forward conduct of the Bishop of Derry ap¬ 
peared far more congenial to the critical and proud posi¬ 
tion of the Irish nation, and better adapted to hasten the 
attainment of their rights, than the slow and almost 
courtly approaches of the Charlemont system. 

The Duke of Leinster also, as well as Mr. Brownlow, 
and many of those who had occasionally been in the 
habit of supporting the Irish government, leaned to the 
moderate and regular course of proceeding recommended 
by Earl Charlemont, whilst fewer of the leaders, but 
more of the people, followed the fascinating boldness of 
the military prelate, who wished to take instant advan¬ 
tage of a crisis, the continuance of which might he un¬ 
certain ; and the conduct of those two noblemen becom- 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


125 


ing decidedly dissimilar, if not altogether adverse, it wa? 
soon apparent, that one or the other of them must neces* 
sarily sink in public estimation. 

This contest for pre-eminence, however, was carried 
on only at a distance, and in no respect impeded the 
general cause. The partisans of each never came into 
decisive collision until a contest for the presidency of the 
general national convention decided that important point 
in favor of Earl Charlemont, and the rough dissolution 
of that assembly through the imbecility of his Lordship, 
soon after put a final conclusion to the power and con¬ 
troversies of both those personages. 

However, on one point no difference of opinion existed 
between them—all the leading characters were unani¬ 
mous as to giving immediate and full effect to the Dun¬ 
gannon resolutions by calling upon every military asso¬ 
ciation in the kingdom forthwith to declare their public 
sentiments on all the important subjects discussed by that 
assembly. An immense number of publications imme¬ 
diately issued from the press, auxiliary to this determi¬ 
nation—an increased activity as well as spirit pervaded 
the whole kingdom—meetings were called in every 
county, city, town, and village—the municipal as well as 
military bodies held public meetings—the determination 
of all coincided with those of Dungannon—no important 
difference of opinion existed—all appeared unanimous in 
the common cause—and Poyning’s Law, the true parent 
of all Irish grievances, became the pass-word of liberty. 
A particular word has frequently had an extraordinary 
effect in exciting the enthusiasm and rousing the passions 
of the Irish people “ Poyning’s Law,” therefore, acquired 
by repetition almost the power of a talisman—it operated 
on all occasions as a reviving stimulant against the usur¬ 
pation of England—and became the most obnoxious and 
reprobated of all their grievances. 

HI. The statute of George 1., declaratory of the legis¬ 
lative supremacy of the British Parliament over Ireland, 
though a more modern was a still more decisive griev¬ 
ance ; as without its abolition the redress of all other 
grievances would be vain and precarious. 

The statutes had originally been enacted upon princi¬ 
ples the most unjust, and for objects the most tyrannical 


126 


RISE AND FALL 


the lirst to reduce the Irish House of Commons to a mere 
instrument of the privy council of both nations, and con¬ 
sequently of the British Cabinet—the second, to neutral¬ 
ize the Irish legislature altogether, and to establish an ap¬ 
pellant jurisdiction to the British lords, whereby every 
decree and judgment of the Irish superior courts, which 
could tend to affect or disturb the questionable or bad 
titles of the British adventurers and absentees to Irish 
states or Irish property, might be reversed or rendered 
abortive in Great Britain by a vote of the Scotch and 
English nobility.* Many British peers and commoners, 
through whose influence the latter statute had been 
enacted, had themselves been deeply interested in effect¬ 
ing that measure, to secure their own grants of Irish 
estates ; and some British judges were led to disgrace 
their judicial character by giving decisive opinions on 
the justice of a statute unequivocally illegal and uncon¬ 
stitutional. It was therefore unanimously agreed upon 
by all the armed associations of Ireland, to publish, on 
their own behalf, and that of the nation in general, a 
counter-declaration to that of the British judges, renoun¬ 
cing all future obedience to that statute—by one bold 
and decisive step to throw off the weight of that usurped 
authority altogether—and, by actual unanimous resist¬ 
ance to its operation, for ever extinguish the most extra¬ 
vagant and illegal assumption of power, which one free 
country and limited monarchy ever yet attempted to im¬ 
pose upon a people, supposed to wear even the tattered 
garb of freedom. 

The Volunteers reasoned—and reasoned unanswer¬ 
ably—that an attempt to legislate for a nation not repre¬ 
sented in the acting legislature, was the very acme of 
despotic power—the practical ground of tyrannic polity; 
and, whether exercised by a king, a parliament, or a 
privy council, was unnatural to the governed—it was 
still a subjection to foreign jurisdiction, which nothing 
but the rights of conquest and the superiority of power 
could justify or perpetuate. 

It was upon the same principle, though differently mo¬ 
dified, that Pagan princes had established Christian sla- 


This re-enacted by the union. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


127 


very—it was upon the same principle, that so large a 
portion of the eastern world was subjugated to the domi¬ 
nation of a few British merchants—and it was the suc¬ 
cess of that vicious precedent, the 6th of George III., 
which had encouraged the British Parliament fatally to 
attempt to legislate for America: but it was a species of 
usurpation which the renovating principles of the British 
constitution itself never could extend to a sister nation, 
and which the immutable laws of nature gave her the 
right of resisting, the very first opportunity which occur¬ 
red to render that resistance effectual. 

IV. It was now perfectly understood by the Irish peo¬ 
ple, that the British statute in question, having passed 
only in England, could have received the royal assent by 
George L, only as King of Great Britain—in which dis¬ 
tinct capacity the Irish nation altogether denied his power 
or authority over Ireland—because the federative princi¬ 
ple, though it placed the two distinct crowns of the two 
distinct nations for ever in one dynasty, yet acted in the 
name of two distinct legislations, and if it authorized the 
legislature of either nation to counter-legislate for the 
other—it must have reciprocally authorized both—and 
would equally have enabled the Irish Parliament, and 
George I., as King of Ireland, to pass a similar statute, 
declaratory of their legislative supremacy over the king¬ 
dom of Great Britain. 

The truth of this position admitted of no argument: 
but even if it did, the physical strength of Ireland was 
now too much alive to its own power to admit of any pro¬ 
longed discussion upon so clear a subject: all diplomatic 
evasions were now useless—the Irish people were right, 
and they were peremptory—the British Government was 
wrong, and it was intimidated—the English fleets and 
armies, crowded with Irishmen, could not be supposed to 
remain indifferent spectators to such a contest with their 
own country—the claim of rights was upon a principle 
so plain and so comprehensive, that soldiers and sailors 
could not be supposed to be ignorant of what the sim¬ 
plest peasant was capable of understanding. 

The Irish judges (though some of them, as before re¬ 
marked, were very respectable men) were at this time but 
little to be trusted on subjects respecting which England 


128 


RISE AND FALli 


appeared to be deeply involved, or the Minister much in 
terested—the precarious tenure of their offices almost 
obliged them to be partisans for British supremacy—and, 
being totally dependent on the Government for their 
bread, were prepared to discountenance, and, if possible, 
by judicial dictums to put down the military associations. 
It was therefore obviously necessary, that the public de- 
claration of positive resistance to all British statutes and 
legislation should be universal, proceeding from all ranks, 
and ah bodies, civil and military—magistrates and peo¬ 
ple—that by its generality every attempt to check it Dy 
judicial interference, or individual prosecution, might be 
rendered impracticable and desperate. 

V. The armed associations, therefore, assembled in 
every quarter of the kingdom, and, by corps and regi¬ 
ments, distinctly adopted the resolutions of the Dungan 
non meeting, and explicitly declared, “ that no earthly 
authority, save the King, Lords, and Commons of Ire¬ 
land, had power to make laws for their country—and that 
they would resist, with their lives and fortunes, the exe¬ 
cution of all British statutes, affecting to bind the inde¬ 
pendent kingdom of Ireland. 

These resolutions* were unanimously adopted by the 

' The author’s father and brothers commanded four Volunteer regi¬ 
ments, viz.,—the Cullenagh Rangers, Durrow Light Dragoons, Kilkenny 
Horse, and Ballyroom Cavalry. The first essay of the author’s political 
pen was the following resolutions, adopted by the first of these corps: 
and proves that an attachment to the constitutional independence of Ire¬ 
land had been the earliest, as it was the last, of his political predilections. 

“ At the meeting of the Cullenagh Rangers, 22d of May, 1802, Colo¬ 
nel Barrington in the chair, the following Resolutions were unan¬ 
imously agreed to:— 

“ Resolved—That as citizens armed in defence of the laws and con¬ 
stitution of our country, and disclaiming every political jurisdiction, save 
the king, lords, and commons of Ireland, we are determined to resist, 
with our lives and fortunes, every statute which the usurped authority 
of the British parliament have heretofore enacted, or may hereafter at¬ 
tempt to impose on a country determined to be free. 

“ Resolved—That we heartily coincide in all the resolutions of the 
Dungannon meeting, as the surest step towards redressing those grievan¬ 
ces, which it was as impolitic in England lo adopt, as it would be pusil 
lanimous in Ireland to submit to. 

“ Signed , by order of the Corps, 

“GEORGE REILY, Secretary.” 

Resolutions to the same effect were entered into by almost every regk 

ment of Ireland. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


12 ^ 


Volunteer corps in every province of Ireland, some in 
more cool, others in warmer language, but all to same 
effect—all in terms equally decisive, explicit, and pa¬ 
triotic. 

The necessity of adopting the Dungannon resolutions 
distinctly as to all their points, was manifest; for they 
were so congenial in their nature, and so closely allied, 
as to be inseparable. That respecting the independence 
of Irish judges seemed quite indispensable to the security 
of individuals, perhaps to the success of any of their 
other measures. Unless judges were totally independent 
of the King and his government, their purity never could 
be confidently relied on, in any case where the crown 
and the subject might be at issue on questions of English 
legislature. 

To preserve, in legal decisions, as much as possible 
the appearance of consistency, judges generally consider 
themselves as bound to follow the precedents of their 
predecessors ; and when imperative justice and their own 
conviction oblige them to overrule any of those prece¬ 
dents, they do so delicately, upon same actual or supposed 
shade of distinction between the cases, authorizing an 
alteration of rule, without a change of principle—which 
alteration would otherwise prove that wrong had been 
done to either the former or the latter suitor—and the re¬ 
pugnant decisions would appear to form a code of legal 
incongruity, changing its rules as often as it changed its 
interpreters, and exhibiting justice as obscure, and deci¬ 
sion as inconclusive. 

But as to Ireland, the decided opinion of the celebrated 
British judge, Blackstone, that u she was by right, as 
well as law, bound by all British statutes specially naming 
her,” would have been a precedent permanently impera¬ 
tive on dependent Irish judges. The total independence 
of the Irish judges on the crown was therefore indispen¬ 
sable to the Irish people, and was peremptorily demanded 
by the whole nation. 

'VI. The Volunteers also perceived, that, though their 
exertions for national independence might, by their then 
power and unanimity, be entirely successful, yet England 
when she recovered her strength, might re-assinne hei 


130 


RISE AND FALL 


power, punish the champions of Irish liberty, and again 
plunge Ireland into its former state of dependence and 
imbecility.* 

They, therefore, saw the necessity of a mutiny bill, 
enacted by their own parliament, and limited in its dura¬ 
tion, as in England, only from session to session ; by 
which the Irish parliaments would constitutionally acquire 
the power of protecting their national independence, as 
their refusing to re-enact the mutiny bill would at any 
time operate as a discharge of the whole standing army 
of the Irish establishment. This, and nothing less than 
this could effectually preserve the nation from future 
shackles, should any minister of Great Britain be bold 
enough again to attempt the subjugation of the country. 
Accordingly, this resolution of the Dungannon meeting 
w r as also unanimously decided on throughout all Ireland, 
and formed one of those demands from which the Yolun 
teers determined never to recede, and never to lay down 
their arms until they had unequivocally obtained it. 

Reasons equally cogent and conclusive induced the 
Volunteers to adopt and peremptorily to insist upon each 
of the other resolutions of the Dungannon meeting whilst 
the old Jiabits of domination, the pride of national 
superiority, the prejudices of a mistaken policy, the avarice 
of a monopolizing commerce, and the principles of an 
arbitrary ministry, equally operated against such con 
cessions. But England felt that she had neither pretences 
to justify, nor means nor strength to support, a direct 
refusal of the claims of Ireland. 

VII. When a people are bold enough to throw ofl 
oppression, strong enough to resist it, and wise enough 
to be unanimous, they must succeed. Oppression, though 
clothed in all the haughtiness of arbitrary power, is ever 
accompanied by the timidity of guilt. On the contrary 

* The Irish Parliament took the most quiet, constitutional, and effec¬ 
tual means of carrying their point, that could possibly be suggested. 
Their sessions were biennial, and consequently their grants to govern¬ 
ment were for two years at once; and till more money was required, 
their legislative was inactive. They now determined on granting sup¬ 
plies to the crown for six months only, as a hint that they would graol 
no more till their grievances were redressed: this had its effect 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


131 


a just resistance to tyranny, however feeble m its com¬ 
mencement, acquires strength in its progress, the stimu¬ 
lants of rising liberty, like the paroxysms of fever, often 
communicating a supernatural strength to a debilitated 
body, lieland had arrived at that crisis, her natural 
vigour was rapidly surmounting the malignancy of her 
disorder, and her dormant powers at once burst forth 
on an astonished empire, and an embarrassed adminis¬ 
tration. 

By this time the national armed force had greatly 
increased, not only in numbers, but in respectability, and 
had improved not only in discipline, but in all the military 
requisites for a regular and active army. 

About that period there were nearly ninety thousand 
soldiers ready, armed, disciplined, and regimented, burn¬ 
ing with impatience for the enjoyment of their liberties, 
not acting on a wild enthusiastic impulse, but guided by 
reason and depending upon justice.* The conduct of 
the. British parliament had taught them the necessity of 
national unanimity, the whole population therefore were 
ready to be embodied if necessity required it, and 
in one month five hundred thousand active soldiers 
might have been enrolled for service. They saw clearly 
that Great Britain, by the consolidation of her strength, 
had risen to that height of power, which alone protected 
her from her ambitious neighbours, and that, whilst she 
kept all her liberty at home for her own consumption, 
she was able to exercise despotic authority over every 
other quarter of the world, which she governed. It was 

* It is impossible with precision to compute the number of effective 
Volunteers who had taken up arms in Ireland, because many were en¬ 
rolled who were incapable of duty. The number on paper therefore 
exceeded the effective force; nor is it probable that more than eighty thou¬ 
sand effective disciplined troops could at that time have been brought 
into the field, until the arming became general, and the numbers increased 
by the admission of Catholics, when, had there been arms in the king¬ 
dom for all who were anxious to bear them, above four hundred thou¬ 
sand effective men certainly would have come forward. In the insurrec¬ 
tion of 1798 , the county of Kildare alone had more than twenty thousand 
.insurgents in arms and the county of Wexford above thirty thousand, 
and had the other counties furnished in proportion to their population, 
the amount would have exceeded a million, but this comprised the Catho¬ 
lics, who were in very scanty numbers enrolled as Volunters in 1782. 


132 


RISE AND FALL 


therefore only by the same unanimity that Ireland cufld 
counteract her ; and ail the capacities and talents which 
the Irish people possessed seemed to collect their united 
strength for the cause of their independence. 

They had now, by the constant discussions of political 
subjects in every rank of society, acquired a capacity 
of acute reasoning on constitutional controversies, their 
native eloquence breaking forth at every meeting nourished 
their native ardour, and almost every peasant became a 
public orator.* “Kings” (said a private volunteer at 
one of those provincial assemblies in Leinster) “are, we 
now perceive but human institutions, Parliaments are but 
human institutions, Ministers are but human institutions, 
but Liberty is a right Divine, it is the earliest gift from 
heaven, the charter of our birth-right, which human 
institutions can never cancel, without tearing down the 
first and best decree of the Omnipotent Creator.” 

The pulpit too from which fanaticism was expelled, did 
not fail to become auxiliary to the general cause. Some 
dissenting clergymen in the north of Ireland were par¬ 
ticularly eloquent; a passage in one of their sermons 
deserves to be recorded. 

“My brethren and brother soldiers, said the pastor, 
let us, by prayer and by humiliation supplicate heaven 
to grant our attainment of that liberty, without which life 
is but a prison, and society a place of bondage. Our tute¬ 
lary providence has permitted that blessing to be so long 
withheld from us by the corrupt and the unworthy only as 
a punishment for our past offences, and a trial for our 
future fortitude and perseverance. But the time of our ex¬ 
piation seems now to have been completed, a bright flame 

* Eloquence was at that period highly estimated and universally culti¬ 
vated in Ireland. The number of able men who at that period filled the 
bar and the senate had never been equalled at any former period. The 
flame of liberty seemed to communicate a glow to the language even of 
the humblest orator. The bar was not a trade it was a profession, from 
which servility was excluded. The senate was not a bank ; it was a 
lyceum ; eloquence flourished in both; the students of the university had 
free access to the gallery of the commons; their young minds became 
enlarged and enlightened by what they daily heard and admired, and 
were thus trained by their patriotism and their imitative powers to sup¬ 
ply the place of declining vete-aus. The change has been great and 
lamentable. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


133 


has blazed lip amongst the people, and, in the hands of 
justice, lights them to the plains of Virtue and of Victory. 
The justice of our cause has drawn down that flame from 
a superior power, and we may well anticipate, that through 
its fire, the priests of Baal will soon perish before the 
altars of the Almighty.” 

Almost every Irish gentleman had now either raised a 
military corps, or had enlisted himself in that of his 
neighbour. Some Roman Catholic gentlemen also took to 
arms, and raised corps composed solely of persons of that 
persuasion, whilst many Protestants, relinquishing their 
prejudices, received their Catholic fellow-subjects into 
their ranks with cordiality, and the whole nation became 
almost as a single family. The most profound peace and 
good conduct signalized the lowest peasantry, the most 
perfect and effectual police was established, hardly a 
public crime of any kind was committed without instant 
detection, and every man of every rank seemed to have 
adopted one prominent and permanent principle, that of 
uniting good order, patriotism, and firmness. 

The love of liberty, however, is often palled by enjoy¬ 
ment : the miseries of former oppression are sometimes 
forgotten in the views of avarice, or the pursuits of 
ambition, and there are two many instances in history, of 
sanguinary contests for the attainment of independence, 
and voluntary relapses into the fangs of tyranny. Human 
nature is subject to inconsistencies, and man cannot coun¬ 
teract the errors of his original formation : but when thai 
inconsistency is the voluntary result of depraved or cor¬ 
rupted principles, the weakness becomes a vice, and the 
object disgusting. Nor can there be a 'stronger elucidation 
of this position, or a more painful comparison of times 
and persons, than that which will occur in the piogress 
of this Narrative, where we shall discover the very same 
men, who in 1782 were foremost in offering their lives and 
fortunes to attain the independence of their country, 
metamorphosed on the Union, eighteen years afterwards, 
into the veriest slaves of direct and shameless corruption, 
and publicly selling themselves, their connections, and 
their country, for money, for office or for title. The 
individual proofs of this are numerous, indisputable and 
easily produced; and the comparison will afford a whole' 


134 


RISE AND FALL 


soma leuson for states and nations to look with rrioro 
caution and iess confidence on the professions of public 
men, who too frequently remain no longer honest, than 
till public opinion may safely be encountered by plausible 
pretences. The shouts of popularity only gratify the 
momentary vanity of man, whilst successful ambition 
rewards more substantially his pride, or fills the measure 
of his avarice. The instances are rare, and therefore 
more precious, of perfect purity attending public charac¬ 
ter, without deviation, through the whole course of its 
career. 

VIII. Of those who led the Volunteer associations in 
Leinster, Lord Charlemont, the Duke of Leinster, Mr. 
Grattan, and Mr. Henry Flood, had the greatest weight 
and authority: their popularity was extreme, and it was 
merited. 

To this list may be added the names of many others, 
particularly Archdall, Stewart, and Brownlow, names that 
will forever remain engraved on the tablet of Irish gra¬ 
titude, as belonging to men who remained steady during 
all the subsequent ordeals through which their unfortunate 
country was doomed to pass, and formed a striking and 
melancholy contrast to Altamont and Belvidere, Shannon 
and Clanricard, Longfield and Nevil, and the crowd of 
those, whose apostacy, in 1800, has stained the records of 
Irish history, and tarnished the character of Irish patriot¬ 
ism. A dereliction of public principle can only be 
‘ accounted for by reflecting, that the accomplished poli¬ 
tician and the polished patriot are no less susceptible of 
the debasing passions of the human mind, than the most 
humble and illiterate amongst uncultivated society. High 
rank and influence oftener expose the dormant errors, 
than multiply the virtues of a public character. 

As soon as the Dungannon Volunteers had received 
the concurrence of the armed associations, the commons 
house of parliament assumed a new aspect. Its former 
submission and unqualified adulation to the minisier and 
the lord lieutenant had departed. The old supporters of 
the government seemed only solicitous how they could 
diminish their obedience without sacrificing their con- 
n rction, and every successive debate showed evident symp¬ 
toms of an approaching and decisive crisis. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


135 


The proceedings of the people without doors, now 
began to have their due weight on their representatives 
within : the whole house appeared forming into parties, 
accordingly as they were operated on by different degrees 
of caution, of timidity, of patriotism, and of interest, the 
leaders of each party became more conspicuous, and 
every question, however trivial, confessed the unsteadi¬ 
ness of the government, and betrayed the embarrassment 
of its supporters. 

Fitzgibbon pursued an unvaried course. His haughty 
and inflexible mind despised the country which he hoped 
one day to govern. Her release from British domination 
might also liberate her from his own grasp, and, so long 
as he could, he uniformly opposed every measure which 
might tend to her emancipation, save in a few instances, 
which, by exposing his duplicity, confirmed his character. 
Perfectly indifferent as to the public, he every day gave 
fresh proofs of that arbitrary and impetuous talent, which 
so strongly contributed to bring the nation to its end, and 
himself to his conclusion and he often embarrassed the 
government more by the intemperance of his support than 
their opponents by the steadiness of their opposition. 

A variety of causes contributed to add both numbers 
and weight to the opposition, and gained it the accession 
of many country gentlemen, whom the excitation of the 
moment had aroused from their lethargy, and who found 
it no longer possible indolently to temporize on those 
ministerial measures, which even their own tenantry in 
arms had resolved to resist. Several on this principle 
united with the opposition. 

The flame reached even those, who from office or con 
nection were necessitated to adhere to the measures of 
government, lowering their usual tone of arrogance and of 
triumph, they condescended to give reasons for their con¬ 
duct, and appeared almost to court a supposition, that this 
adherence was compulsatory, and their conviction open; 
while the number was small of those who, looking to the 
possibility of a termination favourable to government, 
and their future interests, still gave them a support, the 
more acceptable, because now more necessary. But it was 
too late, negotiation was at an end, the mine was charged, 
the train laid, the match was burning the summons wa* 


136 


RISE AND FALL 


peremptory, and either surrender or explosion was inevi* 
table. At this moment the leading characters all started 
from their ranks: every party had its chief, an 1 every 
chief turned his eyes, by almost unanimous assent, to the 
eloquence and energy of the ardent Grattan. The 
favourite of the parliament, the terror of the minister, 
the intimate friend of the ablest men, and the indefati¬ 
gable advocate of his country, he seemed most peculiarly 
calculated to bring forward some great or decisive measure, 
which should at once terminate the dangerous paroxysm 
to which the minds of the whole nation were now worked 
up, and by its decision inform them, whether they were 
to receive their rights from the justice, or to enforce them 
by the humiliation of Great Britain. 

The period, however, had not quite arrived for this 
step. Extensive as the abilities of Mr. Grattan were, 
they had many competitors: jealousies intrude themselves 
even into the highest minds; the spirit of rivalship is 
inseparable from great talents; Mr. Grattan’s importance 
was merely individual, and he was then only advancing 
to that pre-eminence, which he soon after acquired over 
all competitors. Though it was approaching fast, it was 
evident that it had not indisputably arrived: it was 
essential that all those parties in the house should be a 
little more approximated, before a measure was announ¬ 
ced on which unanimity was of vital importance. 

IX. So much talent never had before appeared in the 
Irish senate as at that particular moment; rank and 
fortune also were in higher estimation there than in 
England, where both are more common, and consequen tly 
less imposing. Eloquence and talents have always had 
their appropriate weight in a popular assembly ; but 
several members of the Irish Parliament, in addition to 
splendid talents, having great fortune and distinguished 
rank to recommend them, the commons house was not 
as yet fully prepared to give so splendid a lead to any 
individual, who, devoid of these, had nothing to recom¬ 
mend him but his talents and his character. 

Those who led their respective parties were all men 
of eminent abilities or of extensive connections. Flood, 
Grattan, Brown low, Burgh, Daly, Yelverton, appeared 
the most respected or efficient leaders of the opposition ; 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


137 


Scott (the attorney general) and Fitzgibbon were the 
most active and efficient supporters of government; while 
Daly, Bagenall, Sir Edward Newenham, Mr. Joseph 
Dean and a number of country gentlemen, all dissimilar 
in habits, and heterogeneous in principles, were grouped 
together without any particular leader, but always paid 
a marked deference to the opinions of Mr. Brownlow, 
whose good sense, large fortune, and reasonable effici¬ 
ency, constantly ensured him a merited attention. 

A few of these country gentlemen had a sort of exclu 
sive privilege of speaking without interruption, whether 
they spoke good sense or folly, with reason or without, 
as suited their whims, or accorded with their capacities. 
Of this class was Mr. Thomas Connolly, who appeared 
to have the largest personal connection of any individual 
in the commons house of parliament. He took a princi¬ 
pal lead amongst the country gentlemen, because he 
spoke more than any of them, though probably his influ¬ 
ence would have been greater, if he had remained totally 
silent. He was a person of very high family, ample for¬ 
tune, powerful connections, and splendid establishments ; 
friendly, sincere, honourable, and munificent in disposi¬ 
tion, but whimsical, wrongheaded, and positive, his ideas 
of politics were limited and confused: he mistook obsti¬ 
nacy for independence, and singularity for patriotism, 
and fancied he was a Whig, because he was not profes¬ 
sedly a Tory. 

Full of aristocracy, he was used by the patriots, when 
they could catch him, to give weight to their resolutions, 
and courted by the government, to take advantage of his 
whimsicality, and embarrass the opposition. He was bad 
as a statesman, worse as an orator. In parliament he 
gave his opinions at the close of a debate, without having 
listened to its progress; and attacked measures with a 
sort of blunt point, which generally bruised both his 
friends and his opponents. His qualities were curiously 
mixed, and his principles as singularly blended; and if 
he had not been distinguished by birth and fortune, he 
certainly would have remained all his life in obscurity. 

This gentleman had an extensive circle of adherents. 
On some questions he was led away by their persuasions, 
on others, they submitted to his prejudices, as a bait tu 
12 * 


138 


RISE AND FALL 


fix him on more important occasions ; and sometimes he 
differed unexpectedly from all of them. He was nearly 
al'ied to the Irish minister at the discussion of the union, 
and he followed his lordship’s fortunes, surrendered hi? 
country, lost his own importance, died in comparative 
obscurity, and in his person ended the pedigree of one 
of the most respectable English families ever resident ir 
Ireland. 

X. Many other persons, who distinguished themselves 
at this period of public trial, will be subjects of observa¬ 
tion in the course of this memoir: but scarcely any of 
them more justly deserve notice than Mr. Yelverton, who 
was, perhaps, the only public character of those days, 
whose every act could be with ease accounted for, his 
motives for the act being as palpable as the act was 
public ; and whether his conduct was right or wrong 
made no difference in this respect, its causes could be 
traced with equal facility, and he generally struggled as 
little against the propensities of his nature as any man 
that ever existed, tn this narrative of the concerns of 
Ireland his name will frequently occur; and as so extra¬ 
ordinary a character can never be forgotten in the minds 
of his countrymen, it may properly be anticipated. 

Barry Yelverton, of humble origin, afterwards Lord 
Avonmore, and successor to Hussey Burgh, as chief 
baron of the exchequer, had acquired great celebrity as 
an advocate at the Irish bar, and was at this time rapidly 
winging his way to the highest pinnacle of honourable 
notoriety and forensic advancement. He had been elect¬ 
ed member of parliament for the town of Carrickfergus, 
and became a zealous partisan for the claims of Ireland. 

It would be difficult to do justice to the lofty and over¬ 
whelming elocution of this distinguished man, during the 
early periods of his political exertions. To the profound, 
logical, and conclusive reasoning of Flood; the brilliant, 
stimulating, epigrammatic antithesis of Grattan ; the 
sweet-toned, captivating, convincing rhetoric of Burgh ; 
or the wild fascinating imagery and varied pathos of the 
extraordinary Curran, he was respectively inferior; but 
in powerful, nervous language, he excelled them all. A 
vigorous, commanding, undaunted eloquence burst in 
rolling torrents from his lips, not a word was lost. 


OP TW IRISH NATION. 


139 


riiougb fiery, yet weighty and distinct, the authoritative 
rapidity of his language, relieved by the beauty of his 
luxuriant fancy, subdued the auditor without the power 
of resistance, and left him in doubt, whether it was to ar¬ 
gument or to eloquence that he surrendered his conviction. 

His talents were alike adapted to public purposes, as 
his private qualities to domestic society. In the common 
transactions of the world he was an infant; in the varie¬ 
ties of right and wrong, of propriety and error, a frail 
mortal; in the senate and at the bar, a mighty giant: it 
was on the bench that, unconscious of his errors, and in 
his home unconscious of his virtues, both were most 
conspicuous. That deep-seated vice, which with equal 
power freezes the miser’s heart, and inflames the ruffianV 
passions, was to him a stranger; he was always rich, 
and always poor; like his great predecessor, frugality fled 
before the carelessness of his mind, and left him the vic¬ 
tim of his liberality, and of course in many instances a 
monument of ingratitude. His character was entire'y 
transparent, it had no opaque qualities; his passions were 
open, his prepossessions palpable, his failings obvious, 
and he took as little pains to conceal his faults as to 
publish his perfections. 

In politics he was more steady to party, than to prin¬ 
ciple, but evinced no immutable consistency in either : a 
patriot by nature, yet susceptible of seduction, a partisan 
by temper, yet capable of instability, the commencement 
and the conclusion of his political conduct were as dis¬ 
tinct as the poles, and as dissimilar as the elements. 

Amply qualified for the bench by profound legal and 
constitutional learning, extensive professional practice, 
strong logical powers, a classical and wide ranging capa¬ 
city, equitable propensities, and a philanthropic disposi¬ 
tion, he possessed all the positive qualifications for a great 
judge: but he could not temporize; the total absence of 
skilful or even necessary caution, and the indulgence of a 
few feeble counteracting habits, greatly diminished that 
high reputation, which a cold phlegmatic mien, or a 
solemn, imposing, vulgar plausibility, confers on miserably 
inferior judges. 

But even with all his faults Lord Avonmore was vastly 
superior to all his judicial contemporaries If he was im- 


140 


RISE AND FALL 


petuous, it was an impetuosity in which his heart had no 
concern; he was never unkind that he was not also 
repentant; and ever thinking that he acted with rectitude, 
the cause of his greatest errors seemed to be a careless 
ignorance of his lesser imperfections. 

He had a species of intermitting ambition, which either 
led him too far, or forsook him altogether. His pursuits, 
of course, were unequal, and his ways irregular. Elevated 
solely by his own talents, he acquired new habits without 
altogether divesting himself of the old ones. A scholar, 
a poet, a statesman, a lawyer, in elevated society he was 
a brilliant wit, at lower tables, a vulgar humourist; he, N 
had appropriate anecdote and conviviality for all, and 
whether in the one or in the other, he seldom failed to be 
either entertaining or instructive. 

He was a friend, ardent, but indiscriminate even to 
blindness, an enemy, warm, but forgiving even to folly; 
he lost his dignity by the injudiciousness of his selections 
and sunk his consequence in the pliability of his nature; 
to the first he was a dupe, to the latter an instrument, on 
the whole he was a more enlightened than efficient states¬ 
man, a more able, than unexceptionable judge, and more 
honest in the theory, than the practice, of his politics. ' 
His rising sun was brilliant, his meridian, cloudy, his 
setting, obscure: crosses at length ruffled his temper— 
deceptions abated his confidence, time tore down his 
s.lents he became depressed and indifferent, and after a 
ong life of chequered incidents and inconsistent conduct, 
he died, leaving behind him few men who possessed so 
much talent, so much heart, or so much weakness. 

This distinguished man, at the critical period of Ire¬ 
land's emancipation, burst forth as a meteor in the Irish 
senate, his career in the commons was not long, but it was 
busy and important; he had connected himself with the 
Duke of Portland, and continued that connection unin 
terrupted till the day of his dissolution. But through the 
influence of that nobleman, and the absolute necessity of 
a family provision, on the question of the Union the 
radiance of his public character was obscured for ever, the 
laurels of his early achievements fell withered from his 
brow, and after having with zeal and sincerity laboured 
to attain independence for his country in 1782. he became 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


141 


eae of its sale-masters in 1800 , and mingling in a motley 
crowd, uncongenial to his native character, and beneath 
his natural superiority, he surrendered the rights, the 
franchises, and the honours of that peerage, to which, by 
his greal talents and his early virtues, he had been so 
justly elevated. 

Except upon the bench, his person was devoid of dignity 
and his appearance ordinary and mean, yet there was 
something in the strong, marked lines of his rough un¬ 
finished features, which, bespoke a character of no common 
description; powerful talent was its first trait, fire and 
philanthropy contended for the next, his countenance, 
wrought up and varied by the strong impressions of his 
labouring mind, could be better termed indicatory, than 
expressive; and in the midst of his greatest errors and 
most reprehensible moments, it was difficult not to respecl 
fend impossible not to regard him. 


142 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The alarm in England increases—The Earl of Carlisle recalled— Thfl 
Duke ot Portland appointed Lord Lieutenant—Duke of Portland’s 
character—He attempts to procrastinate-*—Remarks on the policy of 
an Union at that juncture—Mr. Grattan refuses to delay his proceed¬ 
ings—Especial call of the house—Comparison of the English and 
Irish Houses of Parliament—Character of Mr. Sexton Perry—Embar¬ 
rassment of the Patriots—Mr. Hutchinson Secretary of State, unex¬ 
pectedly declares the assent of Government—Mr. Ponsonby moves an 
address considered insufficient—Dangerous dilemma of Parliament. 

I. As the proceedings of the Volunteers and municipal 
bodies became every day more serious and decisive, and 
the Irish House of Commons, on the subserviency of 
which the British ministers had been so long accustomed 
to lely, assumed an unusual tone of independence, and 
evinced strong symptoms of an approaching revolution of 
sentiment, the British cabinet were alarmed for the con¬ 
sequences of further neglect, and at length reluctantly 
gave up all hopes of effectually resisting or evading the 
demands of Ireland, they now only sought how they could 
best gain time for deliberation, so as to moderate the 
extent of their concessions, and adopt a mode of conduct 
the least likely to humiliate the pride, or alarm the jea¬ 
lousies of Great Britain. 

But Lord North’s administration had been disgraced, 
and ruined through their proceedings towards America, 
and were, of course equally unfit to negociate with Ireland, 
as they must feel the same repugnance, as in the American 
case, to concede independence. With these ministers, 
therefore, it was found impracticable to proceed to such a 
measure, and they were at length necessarily displaced. 
But though the administration was changed individually, 
they were still a British government with the appropriate 
characteristics of the old leaven, and could not so suddenly 
and radically alter the fundamental system of their pre¬ 
decessors or conceal from the world the true motive! 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


143 


which caused the change of sentiment in the English 
councils: in other words it was altogether impossible 
effectually to mask the reluctance with which England 
must at length retract her favourite political doctrines— 
and the ill grace with which she must strike the flag of 
usurpation to what she considered an inferior nation. 

In this state of things, as the Earl of Carlisle could not 
act on measures which had been resisted by his col¬ 
leagues it became absolutely necessary for the safety of 
the empire, to change the ministers of both nations, and 
the appointment of the Marquis of Rockingham and Mr. 
Fox by calling to his majesty’s councils as much honesty 
and talent as could reasonably be expected, gave a new 
impulse to the machine of Government, and increased 
the hopes, as it raised the spirits of the Irish people. 

The members of the new cabinet were well aware that 
the situation of Ireland was too critical to be for a moment 
neglected, the great responsibility which that critical state 
imposed on their heads, impressed them with a full sense 
of the difliculties and the dangers they had undertaken to 
encounter; and whatever their private opinions might 
have been on the affairs of Ireland, they wisely adopted 
a full tone of pacific conciliation, and professing the true 
Whig doctrines of constitutional liberty, they assumed the 
eccentric character of patriot-ministers, an attribute but 
little known, and seldom found in any country. 

These ministers were certainly disposed to act liberally, 
though probably to a narrower extent than what they soon 
found was indispensable to the integrity of the empire; 
for even Mr. Fox had never proved himself to be a very 
attached friend to the interests of Ireland, further than he 
was led by his general principles of toleration and liberty, 
and so inattentive had he been to the concerns of that 
nation in the abstract, that a few days after his appoint¬ 
ment, he fairly acknowledged himself ignorant* of its true 
state, and uninformed as to its real circumstances. 

* Mr. Fox, on the 4th of April 1782, wrote to Lord Chariemont in 
these words—“ With regard to the particular points between the two 
countries, I am really not master of them sufficiently to discuss them, 
but I can say in general, the new ministry have no other wish than to 
settle them in the way that may be most lor the real advantage of both 
countries, whose interests cannot be distinct” 


144 


RISE AND F \ I.L 


Their first step, however, was politic and laudable; 
they determined to send over to Ireland a nobleman ol 
high rank whose character was popular, an 1 whose prin¬ 
ciples were conciliatory—and thereby skillully give the 
colouring of generous consideration to measures, which in 
fact, were substantially requisite, for there was not a Bri¬ 
tish minister, if his real sentiments had been known, 
whatever his affected language might have been, who did 
not consider the intended concessions as the necessary 
result of an imperious necessity: existing circumstances 
had left them no choice, and the Duke of Portland was 
properly selected Lord Lieutenant for Ireland, as a fair, 
honest, moderate whig, too temperate and discreet to 
irritate faction, and sufficiently plausible to soften down 
the asperity of parties, by insinuating on'every occasion 
the friendly views of the new cabinet, and the kind con¬ 
descension of his majesty himself, in acceding to claims, 
which, in more prosperous days, his ministers had uni¬ 
formly and haughtily rejected. 

II. On the 14th of April, 1782, the Duke of Portland 
arrived to take upon himself the government of Ireland to 
the great satisfaction of that nation, and the Earl of Car¬ 
lisle departed, leaving behind him strong impressions both 
of individual respect and popular disapprobation. How¬ 
ever friendly and honourable the Earl’s disposition to¬ 
wards the Irish nation might have been, his administra¬ 
tion had effected nothing permanently advantageous, 
either to the country, to the minister, or to his own repu¬ 
tation. The Portugal business had lost him the confi¬ 
dence of the people, and he left Ireland alive to all her 
grievances—completely awakened from her slumber, and 
no longer amenable to that narrow and mistaken policy, 
by which she had been so long kept down, rather than 
governed, and in the exercise of which the Earl’s admi¬ 
nistration had been by no means deficient. 

The Duke of Portland, on his arrival found the nation 
in a state in which neither procrastination nor evasion was 
any longer practicable. The spirit of independence had 
arisen to its highest pitch, the parliament, no longer the 
vassals of the British Government or of their own, stood 
boldly determined to support the people, to reclaim them 
to their old subjection was impossible, to corrupt them 


OF THk IRISH NATION. 


145 


anew was impracticable, and a dissolution would have 
increased the numbers, and added tenfold strength to the 
power of the patriots. 

The Duke therefore, had but one course to talte, to 
proceed as calmly, deliberately, and slowly, as circum¬ 
stances would admit of, and endeavour, if possible, to 
contract the number of concessions which the Irish nation 
were disposed to insist on. But to effect this object he 
was incompetent, he was not a man of talent, and though 
not altogether deficient in that species of ambiguity and 
equivocation, which are supposed to constitute a necessary 
part of a modern minister’s education, he had not enough 
of those qualifications to carry difficult objects by dissi¬ 
mulation, or ingenuity to defeat, by negociation, measures 
which he had not the power of openly resisting. He was 
accounted a plain, fair, well-meaning and rather high- 
minded man, and had the peculiar advantage of being 
the first credible messenger of intended justice from the 
British Government to the Irish people. 

The courtesy of the Irish House of Peers to so elevated 
a nobleman, combined with their courtly habits to all 
former chief governors, procured him a considerable 
strength in that assembly, but he found the House of 
Commons quite beyond his grasp. The yoke on their 
part, was completely thrown off, nor could all his influence 
rally around his government a sufficient numbei of that 
house to support him in any one measure of delay or 
equivocation. He, therefore, pursuant to his instructions 
from the British cabinet, endeavoured, by personal appli¬ 
cation and interviews with the leading members of par¬ 
liament and country gentlemen of the greatest influence, 
to gain a little time for deliberation, but he found the de¬ 
termination of Ireland already so very general, and so 
far matured, and the Volunteer determination so unalter¬ 
ably decided on—that there appeared to be hardly an 
alternative, between immediate acquiescence, or inevita¬ 
ble revolution. 

Whilst the Duke remained in this painful dilemma, 
irresolute as to his conduct, the important crisis was 
rapidly approaching, and the very first day of the meeting 
of parliament portended extraordinary events, not like*v 
to diminish the extent of his embarrassment. 

13 


146 


AISK ANH FALL 


Exclusive af the distinguished personages already men 
tioned, many other eminent men were daily emerging 
from the general body of the commons whose talents and 
eloquence, catching the flame which surrounded them, 
soon added to that brilliant light which illuminated the 
whole nation. But the public eye still kept steadfastly 
fixed on Mr. Grattan, as the person best qualified to take 
the lead in asserting the rights and independence of his 
country. The style and fire of his eloquence, the integ¬ 
rity of his character, his indefatigable perseverance, and 
intrepid fortitude of spirit which had always great weight 
with the Irish, procured him a consideration far above 
his contemporaries, in none of whom were these grand 
qualities so generally united, whilst a kind heart, and the 
mild, unassuming, playful manners of a gentleman, se¬ 
cured to him that sort of private esteem, which banishes 
the feelings of rivalship even from the most zealous par¬ 
tisans. Thus as if by general assent, at the time of the 
Duke of Portland’s assuming the government, was Mr. 
Grattan considered by all ranks as the chosen champion 
for the independence of Ireland, distinguished by the 
most elevated characters, admired by the parliament and 
idolized by the people. 

III. Immediately before the Duke of Portland’s arrival, 
Mr. Grattan had prepared, and determined to move, a 
general declaration of rights in the House of Commons; 
and it must have been an object of the utmost importance 
to the Duke either to prevent that measure altogether, or 
obtain at least its postponement until he became better 
acquainted with the disposition of the principal persons 
of the country, the full extent of their views, and how far 
he might lie able to assuage the general irritation, without 
going the full length of their extensive requisitions, ft 
was also of importance to the credit of his administration, 
that, if possible, he should have the substance of what¬ 
ever he was authorized to accede to, made known by an¬ 
ticipation, as the liberal act of his government, through 
his English secretary, rather than brought forward, as 
the demand of the people, through their Irish advocate. 
Under these circumstances, an adjournment of parliament 
was a most desirable object, and he determined to attempt 
it through the negociation of Mr. Fitzpatrick, who was at 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


147 


least as sincere a man as his noble employer, and had 
always expressed himself strongly in favour of the inte¬ 
rest of Ireland. 

The Duke also felt the great importance of a little 
breathing-time after his arrival; and both Mr. Fox and 
Lord Rockingham exerted themselves to obtain that 
object from the Irish patriots ; and under the circumstan¬ 
ces in which his Grace stood, it might be supposed that 
it would have been granted without much hesitation ; 
and in common times and cases it certainly would have 
been but just, and even in the existing one did not seem 
altogether unreasonable—for, in fact, did not every thing 
promise a harvest of benefits from the new administra¬ 
tion ? The avowed and proved enemies of Ireland had 
retired from office. In their stead, at the head of the 
government, was the Marquis of Rockingham—as a 
man, most excellent—as a statesman, constitutional, 
honest, liberal; as Secretary of State, Mr. Fox, on the 
admirable nature of whose public principles eulogium 
would be surplusage ; and for the management of the 
affairs of Ireland, the Duke of Portland, accompanied by 
Colonel Fitzpatrick. A more propitious prospectus could 
hardly be expected; nor could England furnish many 
men, on whose tolerating dispositions the Irish nation 
had more reason to repose. But still it could not be 
forgotten that they were all Englishmen ; and though 
naturally munificent, honourable, and conciliatory, yet 
necessarily partaking in some degree of those inherent 
prejudices, which education favours and habits confirm 
in English minds, unacquainted with the state of their 
sister country, and, of course, cautious of committing 
themselves with the one country, by too precipitate and 
favourable a change of system towards the other. Men 
the most enlightened on general principles are frequently 
found feeble on abstract subjects ; and Mr. Fox was ex¬ 
cusable in his wariness of adopting sudden determina¬ 
tions, repugnant to the theories and practice of all former 
ministers and former parliaments of Great Britain. 

Every proper preliminary therefore was adopted by 
the new ministry, to prepare their nation for measures 
towards Ireland which- never were, and never could be 
popular in England ; and with a view to anticipate the 


U8 


RISE AND FALL 


expected proceedings of the Irish parliament, a message 
was delivered from the King to the British parliament, 
on the 18th of April, 1782, stating, “That mistrusts and 
jealousies had arisen in Ireland, and that it was highly 
necessary to take the same into immediate consideration, 
in order to a final adjustment.” This message from the 
King, when coupled with the address of the British 
parliament to his Majesty in reply, expressive of “ their 
entire and cheerful concurrence in his Majesty’s views of 
a final adjustment,” if they are to be understood in the 
plain and unequivocal meaning of words, and construc¬ 
tion of sentences, clearly import—the conjoint sentiments 
of both the British King and British Parliament to pro¬ 
ceed to a final adjustment of all differences between the 
two countries ; and this message and reply are here 
more particularly alluded to, because they form one of 
the principal points, afterwards relied upon in the Irish 
parliament, as decisive against any agitation of the ques¬ 
tion of a Union. The words final adjustment , so un¬ 
equivocally expressed by his Majesty, were immediately 
acted upon by the parliaments of both nations ; and the 
adjustment, which took place in consequence of the 
message, was considered by the contracting parties as 
decisively conclusive and final —as intended to be an 
indissoluble compact, mutually and definitely ratified 
by the two nations. 

The measure of a Union, therefore, being proposed, 
and afterwards carried against the will of the people— 
by the power, and through the corruption of the execu¬ 
tive authority—after the complete ratification of that 
contract, and after it had been acted upon for seventeen 
years, was clearly a direct infringement of that final 
adjustment—a breach of national faith—an infraction of 
that constitutional federative compact solemnly enacted 
by the mutual concurrence of the King, Lords, and Com¬ 
mons of Great Britain, and the King, Lords, and Com¬ 
mons of Ireland, in their joint and several legislative 
capacities. 

This message, therefore, forms a predominant circum¬ 
stance, as applying to the most important subsequent 
occurrences between the two nations; and as such, 
should be kept in mind through every event detailed in 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


149 


this memoir. It also leads to some considerations, which 
though they may be considered as a digression from the 
transactions which immediately took place in consequence 
of the message, are yet of considerable utility in eluci¬ 
dating the respective situation of the two countries, at 
the time this final adjustment was proposed by the King, 
and the sense that his Majesty’s ministers, eighteen years 
afterwards, were pleased to give to the word final, when 
they conceived it necessary to argue that it bore, not a 
positive, but an inconclusive import, and could only be 
construed as giving an indefinite scope for future ne¬ 
gotiation. 

IY. Previous to the year 1780, the distressed state of 
Ireland—the law of Poyning—the 6th of George the 
First—the standing army under a permanent mutiny 
bill—the dependence of*the judges—the absence of the 
Habeas Corpus act—the restraints on commerce, and the 
deprivation of a constitution, had often suggested, to 
some of the best friends of Ireland, the idea of a com¬ 
plete incorporation of that country with Great Britain, 
as the only remedy for its accumulated and accumulating 
grievances and oppressions—as the most advantageous 
measure which could be obtained for Ireland under its 
then deplorable circumstances; and about the year 
1753, and subsequently several pamphlets of consider¬ 
able- merit were published on the subject, detailing the 
advantages which Ireland must necessarily have derived 
from so close and beneficial a connection. 

As Ireland was then trampled upon, oppressed, and 
put down without the power of resistance, or any pro¬ 
bable chance of ever obtaining justice—there can be no 
doubt that almost any change must have been bene¬ 
ficial ; and, in that point of view, a complete union of the 
two nations would then have been, in many respects, 
extremely fortunate for that ruined country. The British 
parliament had declared itself paramount to that of Ireland. 
The Irish parliament, tired of ineffectual struggles for 
even the name of independence, had become indifferent 
to its fate, and sunk into a state of lassitude and debility, 
from which, though it was occasionally roused by the 
sharp stings of oppression, it soon relapsed into its old 
apathy, partly through despair and partly through cor- 
13* 


150 


RT.SE AND FALL. 


ruption, while the people, kept systematically ignorant, 
and of course having but little public mind, and less 
public information, were naturally indifferent to the 
existence of a representative assembly, of which they 
neither felt the honour nor experienced the utility. 

But at that period England was too powerful, too 
jealous, and too haughty, to equalize her constitution and 
her commerce, with what she considered as a conquered 
country. She had then no object to obtain from a captive, 
who lay groaning at her feet, picking up the crumbs that 
fell from the rich man’s table. The prejudiced, contracted 
and fallacious views which England then took of the state 
of Ireland, deceived her as to her own interests, connected 
with the general strength and prosperity of the whole 
empire, and every idea of an incorporate union with 
Ireland was rejected with disdajn by the British nation. 
England had united herself with Scotland to avoid the 
chance of a total separation, which it was more than 
probable might otherwise have been the consequence of 
distinct dynasties: but the state of Ireland and the nature 
of her federal connection with England occasioned no 
risk of such an event, and therefore created no such 
uneasiness or necessity, and the idea seemed to have 
been totally relinquished by both countries; by the one, 
because she was too haughty and avaricious to grant, by 
the other, because she was too poor and too dejected to 
obtain so advantageous an arrangement. 

But when Ireland, by the causes heretofore detailed, 
had been awakened to a sense of her own strength, and a 
knowledge of her own resources; when America had 
shown her the example of perseverance, and the possibility 
of obtaining justice, every idea of annexation to England 
vanished like the passing wind; liberty was attainable, 
prosperity must follow liberty, and, in 1782, there was 
scarcely an Irishman, who would not have sooner sunk 
under the ruins of his country, than submit to a measure, 
which, a few years before, was an object, at least of indif¬ 
ference. England too late perceived its error, a union in 
1753 would have effectually ended all claims of an inde¬ 
pendent constitution, by Ireland, in 1782, and would have 
been an object of the highest importance to Great Britain: 
but now it was a word she durst not even articulate, the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


151 


very sound of it would have been equal to a declaration 
of hostility, and however indisposed the new ministers of 
England might have been to admit all the claims of 
Ireland, the words “final adjustment,” so emphatically 
used by his majesty, left no room to suppose that a union 
could be in contemplation, or ever afterwards be insisted 
on : and yet it is singular, that the very same words, 
“final adjustment,” were repeated, by the Irish minister, 
when a union was proposed to the Irish parliament 
in 1800 for its consideration. 

So many arguments afterwards arose from that ex¬ 
pression, so many sophistical constructions were placed 
on his majesty’s message, so much duplicity did his min¬ 
isters attribute to his language, that it is impossible to 
believe that all the ministers of that day were unreser¬ 
vedly sincere, as to the finality of the arrangement made 
with Ireland under its then commanding attitude, and it 
reminds us of one very remarkable truism of Irish history, 
that no compact had ever before been entered into between 
the two countries, that had not been infringed or attempted 
to be infringed by England, when her power enabled 
her, or her interest seduced her, to withdraw from her 
engagements. 

V. Nothing can more clearly elucidate the public con¬ 
duct of the Duke of Portland. In 1782, he came to Ire¬ 
land to consummate a final adjustment between the two 
nations, and in pursuance of such proposal, a final ad¬ 
justment was apparently effected, passed by the parlia¬ 
ments of both nations, confirmed by the honour of Great 
Britain, and sanctified by the faith of Majesty. The 
Duke of Portland was the accredited agent of that final 
adjustment, the responsible minister of both nations, the 
official voucher of its perpetuity, and therefore should 
have been the guardian of that independence, which was 
effected through himself, and declared by him, as viceroy, 
to be final and conclusive. 

Yet, in 1800, the same Duke of Portland is found 
retracing all his former steps, recanting his Irish creed, 
demolishing that independence of which he was the 
guardian, falsifying his own words, and equivocating on 
those of his sovereign to both parliaments, and arguing 
upon an incongruity, never yet paralleled, namely, that 


152 


RISE AND FALL 


the words “final” and “inclusive” were synonymous in 
politics: for upon no other principle could his grace’s 
first and latter conduct he explained or justified. 

It is impossible therefore to give the Duke the merit 
of sincerity towards Ireland in 1782. The altered state 
of Ireland in 1800, was made the solitary but fallacious 
pretence for dissolving a solemn bond, breaking the ties 
of national faith, and diminishing the character of royal 
integrity. 

The Duke was obliged to meet the Irish parliament 
within two days after his arrival; those days were 
employed in endeavouring to procure an adjournment of 
the house, and' several confidential communications took 
place between him, Mr. Grattan, and others, who had 
determined not to admit the delay of a single hour. The 
Duke’s arrival in Ireland had been preceded by letters 
from the Marquis of Rockingham and Mr. Fox to the 
Earl of Charlemont, requesting an adjournment of par¬ 
liament for three weeks, and expressing their conviction 
that the request would be immediately acceded to. No¬ 
thing could more clearly prove their ignorance of the state 
of Ireland. All the influence of the crown could not 
have adjourned the commons for a single day. The 
people were too impatient for any procrastination. By 
adjournment, the parliament would have lost its charac¬ 
ter, and the members their influence, anarchy would have 
been the inevitable result, and instead of a placid, consti¬ 
tutional, parliamentary declaration of rights, a recess 
would probably have occasioned popular declarations of 
a more alarming tendency. For every reason therefore 
an adjournment, though, superficially considered, seemed 
an object of importance to government, might have ended 
in measures greatly to their disadvantage. 

The reasons for declining all delay were communicated 
to the Duke of Portland by Mr. Grattan, and the Duke, 
though not convinced, having no power of resistance, was 
passive on a proceeding which he could not encounter. 

Mr. Grattan also, previously to proposing his measure 
i;o parliament, fairly submitted the intended declaration 
of rights to the Duke; but it was rather too strong and 
too peremptory for his grace’s approbation. He durst 
not however say he would oppose, and yet could not say 


OP THE IRISH NATTON. 


153 


he would support it; but he proposed amendmmts, which 
would have effectually destroyed the vigor and narrowed 
the compass of these resolutions, and recommended modi¬ 
fications, which would have neutralized its firmness. Mr. 
Grattan declined any alteration whatever, and the Duke 
remained doubtful, whether his friends would accede to 
or resist it, and it is more than probable he was himself 
at the same moment equally irresolute as to his own 
future conduct: he had no time to communicate with 
England, and his only resource was that of fishing for 
the support of eminent persons in both houses of parlia¬ 
ment, in the hope of being able, in modifying, to mode¬ 
rate by their means the detailed measures which would 
follow the declaration. 

Whilst the chief governor was thus involved in per¬ 
plexity and doubt, every step was taken by the advocates 
of independence to secure the decisive triumph of Mr. 
Grattan’s intended declaration. Whoever has individually 
experienced the sensations of ardent expectation, trembling 
suspense, burning impatience, and determined resolution, 
and can suppose all those sensations possessing an entire 
nation, may form some, but yet an inadequate idea of the 
feelings of the Irish people on the 16th of April, 1782, 
which was the day peremptorily fixed by Mr. Grattan for 
moving that declaration of rights, which was the proximate 
cause of Ireland’s short-lived prosperity, and the remote 
one of its final overthrow and annexation. So high were 
the minds of the public wound up on the eve of that 
momentous day, that the Volunteers flew to their arms 
without having an enemy to encounter, and, almost 
breathless with impatience, inquired eagerly after the 
probability of events, which the close of the same day 
must certainly determine. 

It is difficult for any persons, but those who have 
witnessed the awful state of expected revolutions and of 
popular commotion, to describe the interesting moments 
which preceded the meeting of the Irish parliament; and 
it is equally impossible to describe the no less interesting 
conduct of the Irish Volunteers on that trying occasion. 
Had the parliament rejected Mr. Grattan’s motion, no 
doubt could exist in the minds of those who were wit¬ 
nesses to the temper of the times, that the connection with 


154 


RISE AND FALL 


England would have been shaken to its very foundation; 
yet the most perfect order and decorum were observed 
by the armed associations, who paraded in every quarter 
of the city. Though their own ardor and impatience 
were great, they wisely discouraged any manifestation of 
the same warm feelings amongst the lower orders of the 
people, and though they were resolved to lose the last 
drop of their blood to obtain the independence of their 
country, they acted as preservers of the peace, and by 
their exertions effectually prevented the slightest inter¬ 
ruption of public tranquillity: the awe of their presence 
restrained every symptom of popular commotion. 

YL Early on the 16th of April, 1782, the great street 
before the house of parliament was thronged by a multi¬ 
tude of people, of every class, and of every description, 
though many hours must elapse before the house would 
meet, or business proceeded on. As it was a circumstance 
which seldom takes place on the eve of remarkable events, 
it becomes a proper subject of remark, that though more 
than many thousands of people, inflamed by the most 
ardent zeal, were assembled in a public street, without 
any guide, restraint, or control, save the example of the 
Volunteers, not the slightest appearance of tumult was 
observable, on the contrary, such perfect order prevailed, 
that not even an angry word or offensive expression 
escaped their lips. Nothing could more completely prove 
the good disposition of the Dublin populace, than this cor¬ 
rectness of demeanour, at a time when they had been 
taught that the very existence of their trade and manufac¬ 
tures, and consequently the future subsistence of them¬ 
selves and their families, was to be decided by the con 
duct of their representatives that very evening; and it 
was gratifying to see that those who were supposed or 
even proved to have been their decided enemies, were 
permitted to pass through this immense assemblage, 
without receiving the slightest token of incivility, and 
with the same ease as those who were known to be theii 
determined friends. 

The parliament had been summoned to attend this 
momentous question by an unusual and special call of th« 
bouse, and by four o’clock a full meeting took place 
The body of the House of Commons was crowded with 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


155 


its members, a great proportion of the peerage attended 
as auditors, and the capacious gallery, which surrounded 
the interior magnificent dome of the house, contained 
above four hundred ladies of the highest distinction, who 
partook of the same national fire which had enlightened 
their parents, their husbands, and their relatives, and by 
the sympathetic influence of their presence and zeal com¬ 
municated an instinctive chivalrous impulse to eloquence 
and to patriotism. 

Those who have only seen the tumultuous rush of 
imperial parliaments, scuffling in the antiquated chapel 
of St. Stephen’s, crowded by a gallery of note-takers, 
anxious to catch the public penny by the earliest reports 
of good speeches made bad, and bad speeches made better, 
indifferent as to subjects and careless as to misrepresenta¬ 
tion, yet the principal medium of communication between 
the sentiments of the representative and the curiosity of the 
represented, can form no idea of the interesting appearance 
of the Irish House of Commons. The cheerful magnificence 
of its splendid architecture, the number, the decorum and 
brilliancy of the anxious auditory, the vital question that 
night to be determined, and the solemn dignity which 
clothed the proceedings of that awful moment collectively 
produced impressions, even on disinterested strangers, 
which perhaps had never been so strongly, or so justly 
excited by the appearance and proceedings of any house 
of legislature. 

VII. Mr. Sextus Perry* then occupied the speaker’s 
chair, a person in whose integrity the house, the nation, 
and the government reposed the greatest confidence; a 
man in whose pure character, spirit, dignity, independence 
of mind, and honesty of principle, were eminently con¬ 
spicuous; decisive, constitutional, patriotic, discreet, he 
was every thing that became his office, and every thing 

* Mr. Perry was the son of a gentleman of business in Limerick, and 
had been called to the Irish bar where he practised with considerable 
reputation and suxess. He was not a distinguished orator in parlia¬ 
ment, but few men ever sat in that house more personally respected by 
all parties. He was chosen speaker on Mr. Ponsonby’s resignation, and 
his brother appointed a bishop some time after. Mr. Perry was uncle to 
the present Earl of Limerick, on whom his estates have descended; and 
it has been remarked that there seldom appeared two public personages 
more dissimilar than the uncle and nephew. 


156 


RISE AND FALL 


that became himself. He had been a barrister in exten 
sive practice at the time of his elevation, and to the 
moment of his death he never departed from the line of 
rectitude, which marked every step of his progress 
through life, whether in a public or private station. Mr. 
Perry took the chair at four o’clock. The singular wording 
of the summonses had its complete effect, and procured 
the attendance of almost every member resident within 
the kingdom. A calm but deep solicitude was apparent 
on almost every countenance, when Mr. Grattan entered, 
accompanied by Mr. Brownlow and several others, the 
determined and important advocates for the declaration 
of Irish independence. Mr. Grattan’s preceding exertions 
and anxiety had manifestly injured his health; his 
tottering frame seemed barely sufficient to sustain his 
labouring mind, replete with the unprecedented impor¬ 
tance and responsibility of the measure he was about to 
bring forward. He was unacquainted with the reception 
it would obtain from the connections of the government, 
he was that day irretrievably to commit his country with 
Great Britain, and through him Ireland was either to assert 
her liberty, or start from the connection. His own situation 
was tremendous, that of the members attached to the 
administration embarrassing, that of the people anxious to 
palpitation. For a short time a profound silence ensued, 
it was expected that Mr. Grattan would immediately rise 
when the wisdom and discretion of the government gave 
a turn to the proceedings, which in a moment eased the 
parliament of its solicitude, Mr. Grattan of the weight 
that oppressed him, and the people of their anxiety, Mr. 
Hely Hutchinson (then secretary of state in Ireland) rose. 
He said, that his Excellency the Lieutenant had ordered 
him to deliver a message from the King, importing, that 
“ His Majesty, being concerned to find that discontents 
and jealousies were prevailing amongst his loyal subjects 
of Ireland, upon matters of great weight and importance, 
recommended to the house to take the same into their most 
serious consideration, in order to effect such a final ad¬ 
justment as might give satisfaction to both kingdoms.” 
And Mr. Hutchinson accompanied this message—and his 
statement of his own views on the subject with a deter* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


157 


mination to support a declaration of Irish rights, and 
constitutional independence. 

VIII. Notwithstanding this official communication, the 
government members were still greatly perplexed how to 
act. Mr. Grattan’s intended declaration of independence 
was too strong, decisive, and prompt to be relished as the 
measure of any government, it could neither be wholly 
resisted, nor generally approved of, by the viceroy. His 
secretary Colonel Fitzpatrick, was not yet in parliament, 
all modification whatsoever had been rejected by Mr. 
Grattan and his friends ; and it is generally believed, that 
the members of government went to parliament that day 
without any decided plan or system, but determined to 
regulate their own individual conduct by the circumstances 
which might occur, and the general disposition indicated 
by the majority of the house in the course of the pro¬ 
ceedings. 

IX. Thus, on the 16th of April, 1782, after nearly 700 
years of subjugation, oppression, and misery, after centu- 
u'esof unavailing complaint, and neglected remonstrance 
did the King of Ireland, through his Irish secretary of 
state, at length himself propose to redress those grievances 
through his Irish parliament; an authority which, as King 
of England, his minister had never before recognised or 
admitted. In a moment the whole scene was completely 
changed; those miserable prospects which had so long 
disgusted, and at length so completely agitated the Irish 
people, vanished from their view: the phenomena of such 
a message had an instantaneous and astonishing effect, 
and pointed out such a line of conduct to every party 
and to every individual, as left it almost impossible for 
any but the most mischievous characters, to obstruct the 
happy unanimity which now became the gratifying result 
of this prudent and wise proceeding. 

Mr. Hutchinson, however, observed in his speech, that 
he was not officially authorized to say more, than simply 
to deliver the message: he was therefore silent as to all 
details, and pledged the government to none, the parlia¬ 
ment would act upon the message as to themselves might 
seem advisable. Another solemn pause now ensued, Mr. 
Grattan remained silent, when Mr. George Pmisonby rose 
and, after eulogising the King, the British Minister, and 


158 


RISE AND FALL 


the Irish Government, simply proposed an humble address 
in reply, “thanking the King for his goodness and con* 
descension, and assuring his majesty that his faithful com¬ 
moners would immediately proceed upon the great objects 
he had recommended to their consideration.” 

X. This uncircumstantial reply, however, fell very short 
of the expectation of the house, or the intentions of Mr. 
Grattan. On common occasions it would have answered 
the usual purposes of incipient investigation; but the 
subject of Irish grievances required no committee to 
investigate, no protracted debates for further discussion. 
The claims of Ireland were already well known to the 
King and to his ministers; they had been recorded by 
the Dungannon convention, and now only required a par¬ 
liamentary adoption in terms too explicit to be miscon¬ 
strued, and too peremptory to be rejected. It is true, the 
good intentions of his majesty were announced—the 
favourable disposition of his cabinet communicated, a re¬ 
dress of discontents and jealousies suggested, but nothing 
specific was vouched or even alluded to; the present 
fa vourable government might be displaced, and the King’s 
conceding intentions changed by a change of ministers, 
and Ireland thus be again committed with Great Britain 
under circumstances of diminished strength, and more 
difficult adjustment, every man perceived the crisis, but 
no man could foresee the result, some decisive step 
appeared inevitable, but without great prudence that step 
might be destructive, popular impetuosity frequently de¬ 
feats its own objects, the examples of European history 
in all ages have proved, that rash or premature efforts to 
shake off oppression, generally confirmed, or rent the 
chains of despotism from the grasp of one ruler, only to 
transfer them with stronger rivets to the power of a suc¬ 
cessor. It is less difficult to throw off the trammels of 
an usurping government, than to secure the preservation 
of a new-gained constitution, and in cold and phlegmatic 
nations where the sublime principles of political freedom 
were less investigated or'less valued than in Ireland at 
that enlightened epoch, more comprehensive powers 
might be entrusted to the prudence of the people or dele¬ 
gated to the guardianship of selected chieftains but in an 
ardent nation, distinguished more for its talents and its 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


159 


enthusiasm, than for its steadiness or its foresight, where 
every man fostered his heated feelings, and the appetite 
for liberty was whetted even to voracity by the slavery 
of ages, hasty or violent proceedings, however they might 
for a moment appear to promote a rescue of the country 
from existing evils, would probably plunge it still deeper 
into unforeseen and more deplorable misfortunes, vision¬ 
ary men and visionary measures are never absent from 
such political struggles, but if the phrenzy of Eutopian 
speculations gets wing amongst a people, it becomes the 
most plausible pretext to oppressive rulers, and the most 
destructive enemy to the attainment of constitutional 
liberty ; and at this important crisis, had one rash step 
prematurely committed Ireland and Great Britain in 
hostile struggle, the contest would have ended in the 
ruin of one country, if not of both. 

These considerations had great weight, and excited 
great embarrassments amongst the leading members in 
the Irish Parliament, different characters of course too.K 
different views of this intricate subject, strength of intel¬ 
lect, courage, cowardice, interest, ignorance, or informa¬ 
tion, naturally communicated their correspondent im¬ 
pressions, and but few persons seemed entirely to coin¬ 
cide on the specific limits to which these popular pro 
ceilings might advance with safety. 


160 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER IX 

Mi - . Grattan moves a declaration of rights and grievances in Parliament 
—Mr. Brownlow—Mr. George Ponsonby—Mr. Flood—Mr. Fitzgib* 
boq’s conduct—His Declaration of Independence—Enthusiastic re* 
joicings. 

I. Mr. Grattan had long declared the absolute necessity 
of gratifying the people by a legislative declaration of 
Irish rights and constitutional independence, marking out 
by an indelible record that sacred Rubicon past which 
the British government should never more advance, and 
beyond which the Irish nation should never wander. On 
that point the fate of Ireland vibrated as on a pivot, it 
must rise or it must fall, it could no longer remain sta¬ 
tionary, and the great landed proprietors strongly felt 
that they must necessarily participate in its vicissitudes, 
the court had totally lost its influence, the people had 
entirely acquired theirs, the old system of Irish govern¬ 
ment was annihilated, and the British cabinet had neither 
the wisdom nor the disposition to take a decisive lead in 
more popular arrangements, the parliament and the peo¬ 
ple were gradually drawing together, an instinctive sense 
of the common difficulty called all men towards some 
common centre, and as that centre, all parties, all sects, 
and all factions looked to the talents and the honesty of 
Mr. Grattan, they knew that he had no object but his 
country, and no party but its supporters, they knew that 
his energetic mind could neither be restrained by resist- 1 
ance nor neutralized by subterfuge, he possessed all those 
intellectual qualities best calculated to lead the Irish peo¬ 
ple to the true standard of freedom. 

II. It is an observation not unworthy of remark, that in 
describing the events of that important evening, the struc¬ 
ture of the Irish House of Commons (as before mentioned) 
at the period of these debates was particularly adapted 
to convey to the people an impression of dignity and of 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


161 


splendor in their legislative assembly, the interiot of the 
Commons House was a rotunda of great architectural 
magnificence; an immense gallery, supported by Tuscan 
pillars, surrounded the inner base of a grand and lofty 
dome, in that gallery, on every important debate, nearly 
seven hundred auditors heard the sentiments and learned 
the characters of their Irish representatives ; the gallery 
was never cleared on a division ; the rising generation 
acquired a love of eloquence and of liberty, the principles 
of a just and proud ambition, the details of public busi¬ 
ness, and the rudiments of constitutional legislation. 

The front rows of this gallery were generally occupied 
by females of the highest rank and fashion, whose pre¬ 
sence gave an animating and brilliant splendour to the 
entire scene, and in a nation such as Ireland then was, 
from which the gallant principles of chivalry had not 
been altogether banished, contributed not a little to the 
preservation of that decorum so indispensable to the 
dignity and weight of deliberative assemblies. 

This entire gallery had been crowded at an early hour 
by personages of the first respectability of both sexes, it 
would be difficult to describe the interesting appearance 
of the whole assemblage at this awful moment; after the 
speech of Mr. Hutchinson, which in fact decided nothing, 
a low confidential whisper ran through the house, and 
every member seemed to court the sentiments of his 
neighbour without venturing to express his own, the 
anxious spectators, inquisitively leaning forward, awaited 
with palpitating expectation the development of some 
measure likely to decide the fate of their country, them¬ 
selves,* and their posterity, no middle course could possibly 
be adopted, immediate conciliation and tranquillity, or 
revolt and revolution, was the dilemma which floated Oi: 
every thinking mind, a solemn pause ensued, at length 
Mr. Grattan, slowly rising from his seat, commenced the 
most luminous, brilliant, and effective oration ever deli¬ 
vered in the Irish parliament. 

This speech, ranking in the v iry first class of effective 
eloquence, rising in its progress, applied equally to the 
sense, the pride and the spirit of the nation, every suc¬ 
ceeding sentence increased the interest which his exor¬ 
dium had excited, trampling upon the arrogant claims 
14* 


£62 


RISE At<D FALL 


and unconstitutional usurpations of the Biitish govern 
ment, he reasoned on the enlightened principle of a fede¬ 
rative compact, and urged irresistibly the necessity, the 
justice, and the policy of immediately and unequivocally 
declaring the constitutional independence of the Irish na¬ 
tion, and the supremacy of the Irish parliament, as the only 
effectual means of preserving the connection between the 
two nations. His arguments were powerful and conclu¬ 
sive, but they were not original,* it was the very same 
course of argument which that great Irish statesman, 
Molyneux, had published near a century before, the same 
principles on which Swift, the ablest of Irish patriots, had 
defended his country, and the same which that less able, 
but not less sincere and honest friend to Ireland, Dr. Lucas, 
had continually maintained, frequently in opposition to 
the doctrines of Mr. Grattan’s own father. Some pas¬ 
sages of this oration were particularly characteristic of 
Mr. Grattan’s energetic manner. “ He admired that 
steady progressive virtue which had at length awakened 
Ireland to her rights, and roused her to her liberties, he 
was not yet old, but he remembered her a child, he had 
watched her growth, from childhood she grew to arms, 
from arms she grew to liberty; whenever historic annals 
tell of great revolutions in favour of freedom, they were 
owing to the quick feelings of an irritated populace excited 

* It is a circumstance worthy of observation, that the principal argu¬ 
ments of Mr. Grattan went to establish the same doctrines, and were 
expressed partly in the very same words, as those of Mr. Molyneux and 
Dr. Lucas, and that Mr. Grattan’s speech was received with universal 
approbation by parliament, and these principles of Irish independence 
acceded to by the King’s government, and even supported by, his law 
officers, whilst the celebrated book published by Mr. Molyneux, con¬ 
taining the same “ claims of Ireland,” had been voted a treasonable libel 
by the Irish parliament, when under the influence of the English gov¬ 
ernment, and was ordered to be burned by the hands of the common 
hangman, which sentence was accordingly executed before the door of 
the House of Lords; and that Dr. Lucas, for publishing the same princi¬ 
ples at a later period, had been voted an enemy to his country, and neces¬ 
sitated to fly from Ireland for his safety. 

Nothing can more strongly exemplify the dreadful vassalage into 
which the Irish nation had sunk, or prove the inestimable value of na¬ 
tional independence, than the fact that Mr. Grattan gained immortal 
honour and substantial rewards for the same acts for which his illustrious 
predecessors had been declared enemies to their country Such are th« 
resulting distinctions of slavery and of freedom. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


163 


by some strong object presented to their senses, such was 
the daughter of V irginius sacrificed to virtue, such were 
the meagre and haggard looks of the seven Bishops sacri¬ 
ficed to liberty. But it was not the sudden impulse of 
irritated feelings which had animated Ireland, she had 
calmly mused for centuries on her oppressions, and as de¬ 
liberately rose to rescue the land from her oppressors. 

For a people to acquire liberty they must have a lofty 
conception of themselves, what sets one nation above 
another, but the soul that dwells within her? deprive it 
of its soul, it may still retain a strong arm, but from that 
moment ceases to be a nation, of what avail the exertions 
of Lords and Commons if unsupported by the soul and the 
exertions of the people ? the Dungannon meeting had 
spoken this language with the calm and steady voice ot 
an injured country, that meeting had been considered as 
an alarming measure, because it was unprecedented but 
it was an original transaction, and all original transactions 
must be unprecedented; the attainment of Magna Charta 
had no precedent, it was a great original transaction, not 
obtained by votes in parliament, but by Barons in the 
field, to that great original transaction England owes her 
liberty, and to the great original transaction at Dungan¬ 
non, Ireland will be indebted for hers, the Irish Volunteers 
had associated to support the laws and the constitution, the 
usurpations of England have violated both, and Ireland 
has therefore armed to defend the principles of the British 
constitution against the violations of the British govern¬ 
ment. Let other nations basely suppose that people were 
made for governments, Ireland has declared that govern¬ 
ments were made for the people, and even crowns, those 
great luminaries whose brightness they all reflect, can 
receive their cheering fire only from the pure flame of a 
free constitution. England has the plea of necessity for 
acknowledging the independence of America, for admitting 
Irish independence she has the flea of justice ; America 
has shed much English blood, and America is to be free: j 
Ireland has shed her own blood for England, and is 
Ireland to remain in fetters? is Ireland to be the only 
nation whose liberty England will not acknowledge, and 
whose affections she cannot subdue ? we have received 


164 


RISE AND FALL 


the civic crown from our people, and shall we like slaves 
lay it down at the feet of British supremacy ?” 

Proceeding in the same glow of language and of 
reasoning, and amidst an universal cry of approbation, 
Mr. Grattan went fully into a detail of Irish rights and 
grievances, and concluded his statement by moving, as an 
amendment to Mr. Ponsonby’s motion—“ That an hum¬ 
ble address be presented to his Majesty, to return his Ma¬ 
jesty the thanks of this house for his most gracious mes¬ 
sage to this house, delivered by his Grace the Lord 
Lieutenant. 

“ To assure his Majesty of our unshaken attachment 
to his Majesty’s person and government, and of our lively 
sense of his paternal care in thus taking the lead to admi¬ 
nister content to his Majesty’s subjects of Ireland. 

“ That thus encouraged by his royal interposition, we 
shall beg leave, with all duty and submission, to lay before 
his Majesty the cause of all our discontents and jealousies; 
to assure his Majesty that his subjects of Ireland are a 
free people, that the crown of Ireland is an imperial 
crown , inseparably connected with the crown of Great 
Britain, on which connection the interests and happiness 
of both nations essentially depend—but that the kingdom 
of Ireland is a distinct kingdom , with a parliament of her 
own the sole legislature thereof—that there is no body of 
men competent to make laws to bind the nation but the 
King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland—nor any parlia¬ 
ment which hath any authority or power of any sort what¬ 
ever in this country, save only the parliament of Ireland 
—to assure his Majesty, that we humbly conceive that in 
this right the very essence of our liberty exists —a right 
which we, on the part of all the people of Ireland, dc 
claim as their birthright, and which we cannot yield 

BUT WITH OUR LIVES.” 

The effect of this speech, and the concluding amend¬ 
ment, was instantaneous and decisive. A legislative de¬ 
claration of independence at once placed the rights and 
determinations of Ireland on a footing too high to be 
relinquished without an exterminating contest; the cir¬ 
cumstances of both nations were imperative; Ireland was 
committed and must persist, and Great Britain had la¬ 
vished in America her powers of resistance. That 


DF THE IRISH NATION. 


165 


ha>. ghty govern ment, which in all the arrogance of supe- 
noi force had for so many centuries lorded over the 
natural rights and scoffed at the groans of her sistei 
country, at length reached the highest climax of oppres¬ 
sion and intolerance, and was necessitated to acknowledge 
the wrongs and the virtues of that people, and peaceably 
capitulate to a nation which, by honest means, it might 
at any time have conciliated. The whole house~in a mo¬ 
ment caught the patriotic flame, which seemed to issue 
from every bench of the entire assembly.* 

III. Mr. Grattan had selected, to second and support 
his declaration, a person who gave it as much influence 
as character and independence could possibly commu¬ 
nicate. Well aware of the great importance which was 
attributed to the accession of the landed interest in par¬ 
liamentary measures, he judiciously selected Mr. Brown- 
low, member for the county of Armagh, as one of the 
first of the country gentlemen in point of wealth and 
reputation. 

No man could be better adapted to obtain the concur¬ 
rence of the landed interest than Mr. Brownlow. His 
own stake in the country was too great to be risked on 
giddy speculations; his interests were entirely identified 
with those of the country; and having no courtly con¬ 
nections to detract from his independence, or aristocratic 
taints to trifle with his purity, every thing he said, and 
every measure he supported, carried a certain portion of 
influence amongst the country gentlemen, and they often 
followed his example solely because they could hot sus¬ 
pect its honesty. 

The great body of the landed proprietors in parlia¬ 
ment, though intrinsically honest, were simple, prejudiced, 
refractory, and gregarious; the Government, on ordinary 
occasions, found it not difficult to delude or disunite 
them : and even on this day, without such a leader as Mr. 
Brownlow, the entire unanimity of their opinion on their 
conduct could by no means be depended on. 

* The author of this work, then a student in the University of Dub¬ 
lin, was present at this important scene rs a spectator, and the impres¬ 
sion it male on his youthful mind, years have not been able in any de¬ 
gree to efface ; and he is therefore enabled to delineate the circumstance! 
attending that important event with more than ordinary accuracy, in 
truth, time has not left many contemporaries to tell the stoiy. 


166 


2U3P AMD FALL 


After Mr. GiaPan had concludec, Mr. Brownlo* 
instantly rose—a general symptom of approbation ran 
through the house at perceiving so weighty an auxiliary 
to so decisive a declaration—his example gave counte¬ 
nance to many, and confidence to all—his speech was 
short, but it was decided, and expressed in such terms as 
at once determined the country gentlemen to adopt ihe 
measure in its fullest extent without further delay, and 
to. pledge their lives and fortunes to the support and 
establishment of Irish independence; he said, u as he 
had the honour to second the mover in adversity, he 
could not avoid maintaining the same honour at a 
moment of triumph. He had long seen that things must 
come to this; the people had learned their rights, and 
they would have them—an end has been proclaimed to 
temporizing expedients—to artful delay, and to political 
junctions—the people have demanded their rights, and 
the Irish parliament will support them with their lives 
and fortunes. He would leave the other side of the 
house to discuss the subject, and if they were anxious to 
atone for their past conduct, he would not check the 
ardour of their p'/notism, which, after being so long 
restrained, seemed ready to burst forth, and he should 
rejoice in the explosion. As to the declaration of rights, 
the honourable gentleman would have the eternal gratifi¬ 
cation of having reared this infant child—his (Mr. 
Brownlow’s) only merit would be, that, though he could 
not maintain it with ability, his utmost zeal should be 
exerted to support it.” 

On the conclusion of Mr. Brownlow’s speeeh, another 
short pause ensued ; but it was not a pause of doubt— 
the measure was obviously decided—the victory was 
complete—nothing remained in suspense but through 
whom, and by what species of declaration the Govern¬ 
ment could submit to so strong a measure ; some of the 
officers of the crown had been the servants of the last 
administration, and the short period from the arrival of 
the Duke of Portland had given no time to his cabinet 
for consideration or concert—the dynasty of diplomatic 
evasion had ceased to reign—and for the first time in 
the annals of British history, the officers and ministers ol 
government appeared to be let loose upon the parlia 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


167 


merit, to recant their principles and capitulate for theii 
characters. The first they performed, the latter they 
failed in. Men may pity the feelings of a vanquished 
enemy, but they can never securely trust to his compul¬ 
sory repentance, and they who had expended every day 
of their political life in upholding the principle of British 
supremacy, could hardly expect to receive more confi¬ 
dence from the nation than that which belongs to the 
character of defeated apostates. 

IV. Mr. George Ponsonby, on the part of the Lora 
Lieutenant, submitted with as good a grace as the cir¬ 
cumstance would admit of, to a proceeding which it was 
impossible could be pleasing to any English ministry. 
Mr. Ponsonby had been generally in opposition since the 
time of his father’s disagreement with Lord Townsend, 
and his family being entirely attached to the Whig inter¬ 
ests of England, the change of ministry naturally brought 
to the Marquis of Rockingham’s administration and aid, 
tne persons who had been so long in opposition to his 
predecessor. Mr. Ponsonby’s family, of course, con¬ 
nected itself in Ireland with the Duke of Portland^ and 
it was expected that he would have been placed high in 
confidence under his Grace’s administration. 

Blending an aristocratic mind with patriotic feelings, 
and connected with a Viceroy who could himself hardly 
guess the road he might have to travel, Mr. Ponsonby 
could not at such a moment be expected to play the full 
game of popular expectation. Extensive and high family 
connections, whatever party they espouse in public trans¬ 
actions, ever communicate some tints of their own 
colouring, and impose some portion of voluntary res¬ 
traint upon the free agency of public characters—and 
had Mr. Ponsonby been an isolated man, he would have 
been a more distinguished personage. A na>ion may 
sometimes look with confidence to individuals, but they 
are a credulous people who look with confidence to 
party. Individuals may be honest—but gregarious in¬ 
tegrity would -be a phenomenon in politics. It is the 
collisions of party, not their visionary virtue, that is ad¬ 
vantageous to a people who frequently acquire their 
rights not through the political purity, but through the 
cancorous recrimination of ambitic us factions. 


168 


RISE AND PADL. 


On this occasion, however, Mr. Ponsonby’s steady, 
judicious, and plausible address, exactly corresponded 
with the exigencies of the Viceroy, and gave a tinge of 
generous concession to his Grace’s accedence, which the 
volatile gratitude of the Irish nation, for a moment mis¬ 
took for genuine sincerity. Mr. Ponsonby sought to he 
considered at the same moment as faithful to his country 
and faithful to its government—a union which the bad 
policy of England had taught the Irish people to consider 
as incompatible. His manner and his speech, however, 
had the effect intended. His fair and discreet reputation 
gave great weight to so gratifying a declaration; and no 
impression could be more favourable to the Duke of 
Portland than that which he derived from the short con¬ 
ciliating observations of Mr. Ponsonby. He stated, 
“that he most willingly consented to the proposed 
amendment, and would answer that the noble Lord who 
presided in the government of Ireland, wished to do 
every thing in his power for the satisfaction of the nation, 
and he knew that the noble Duke would not lose one 
moment in forwarding this remonstrance of parliament 
to the Throne, and he would use his utmost influence in 
obtaining the rights of Ireland, an object on which he 

had FIXED HIS HEART.” * 

This declaration was received with the loudest cheers 
by a great majority of the House; but there existed men 
whose wise scepticism still retained their doubts of his 
Excellency’s unsophisticated sincerity. They reflected 
justly, that the irresistible position of Ireland alone had 
at length induced the British government to this mag¬ 
nanimous declaration—past events had indisputably de¬ 
cided, that whether cabinets of Whigs or cabinets of 
Tories had ruled the British councils, the system of its 
government had remained invariably adverse to the 
rights of Ireland; high British supremacy had been the 
principle and the practice of all its administrations and of 

* Mr. Ponsonby soon after this period acquired the highest legal esti¬ 
mation, and in public affairs connected himself with Mr. Grattan, which 
connection has continued without interruption. 

Mr. Ponsonby was one of the leading and distinguished opponents 
ol Lord Castlereagh, on the question of the Irish Union, and alway» 
can ed a great and just weight in the Irish Parliament. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


109 


all its princes; and amidst all the changes and revolu¬ 
tions of England, Ireland had never yet experienced one 
friendly ministry. 

V. On this subject Mr. Flood (one of the ablest men 
that Ireland ever produced) was this night silent. He 
saw further, and thought deeper than any of his contem¬ 
poraries—he knew the world, and of course was sceptical. 
As a popular orator, he was inferior to Mr. Grattan, but 
as a deliberate senator he was vastly his superior. He 
knew that ail precedent of British cabinets gave just 
reason to attribute this sudden transition of English 
policy, not to the feelings of her liberality, but to the 
extent of her embarrassments; and that the Duke of 
Poi tland’s having “ set his heart” upon obtaining the 
rights of Ireland, was only giving the gloss of voluntary 
merit to a concession which was in fact a matter of abso¬ 
lute necessity, and without which his Grace foresaw that 
all British authority in Ireland, would be extinguished for 
jver. Mr. Flood’s confidence, therefore, never was im¬ 
plicit. Mr. Grattan, on the contrary, was deceived by 
{lis own zeal, and duped by his own honesty; and his 
friend, Lord Charlemont, was too courtly a nobleman to 
suspect his Grace of such consummate insincerity.* But 

* The following Resolutions passed immediately before the meeting 
o: parliament, and being followed by the same, or still stronger, from 
every armed association in Ireland (at that period nearly one hundred 
thousand disciplined men) taught the Duke of Portland the total im¬ 
practicability of postponing the claims of Ireland one hour. 

The first of these Resolutions were those of the Irish Bar —a body 
at that time of the greatest weight in point of talent, respectability, and 
patriotism —it gave the tone to the Resolutions of the whole Irish nation. 

Those Resolutions were unanimously adopted, some in stronger terms, 
by all the armed associations 

lawyer’s corps 

At a fall meeting of the Lawyer’s Corps, the 2 8th February , 1782, 
pursuant to notice , 

Colonel Edward Westby in the Chair: 

Resolved, That the Members of the House of Commons are the rep¬ 
resentatives of, and derive their power solely from, the people; and that 
a denial of this position by them would be to abdicate the representation 

Resolved unanimously. That the people of this country are now 
called upon to declare that the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland 
are the only power competent to make laws to bind this kingdom. 

Resolved unanimously, That we do expect such declaration of rigli! 

15 


170 


RISE AND FALL 


Mr. Flood even at that moment did not stand alone iu 
this ungracious incredulity; and ensuing events have 
fully confirmed the wisdom of his scepticism.* 


from our representatives, and that we will support them with our lives 
and fortunes in wathever measures may be necessary to render such 
declaration an effectual security. 

Resolved, that the above resolutions De printed. 

Signed by order, 

Samuel Adams, Secretary. 


At a Meeting of the Corps of Dublin Volunteers , Friday , 1st March , 

1782, 


His Grace, the Duke of Leinster in the chair: 

Resolved, That the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland only are 
competent to make laws to bind the subjects of this realm, and that we 
will not obey or give operation to any ldws, save only those enacted by 
the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland , whose rights and privileges , 
jointly and severally, we are determined to support with our lives and 
fortunes. 

Signed by order, 

John Williams, Secretary. 

* The doubts of Mr. Flood, and the intentions of the Irish Volunteers, 
seem to be fully exemplified in the following resolutions, passed the very 
day after this celebrated declaration of rights had passed in parliament. 

At a meeting of the delegates from one hundred and th irty-nine Corps 
of the Volunteers of the Province of Leinster, at D»/>bn, 17th April, 
1782, 

Colonel Henry Flood in the Chaii 


Resolved unanimously, That we feel ourselves calhd upon to declare 
our satisfaction in the unanimous sense of the House of Commons ex¬ 
pressed in favour of the rights of Ireland, in their address to the King 
yesterday, as amended by Colonel Grattan, and tkr.t we will support 
them therein with our lives and fortunes. 

Resolved unanimously. That the thanks of this meeting he given to 
Colonel Grattan, for his extraordinary exertions and perseverance in 
asserting the rights of Ireland. 

Resolved unanimously. That the following thirteen Comrr anders ol 
Corps be appointed a Standing Committee of Delegates from j.is Prow- 
ince, to correspond and commune with all the other provb . ^ Commit 
tees or Delegates of Ireland, to wit: 


Earl of Granard, 
Earl of Aldborough, 
Sir W. Parsons, 
Colonel Grattan, 
Colonel Talbot, 

Lie it.-Colonel Lee, 
Colonel Flood, 


Colonel Parnell 
Captain R. Nev^ 
Captain Gorge, 
Colonel Burtcn 
Colonel M. Lyons, 
Captain SriYTH 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


171 


This speech of Mr. Ponsonby’s is the more remarkable, 
because it was reserved for the same Mr. Ponsonby, 
seventeen years afterwards, to expose, in the clearest and 
most able language, this very duplicity of the same 
Duke of Portland; and the open avowal of his Grace in 
seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, that he had “ never ” 
considered that this concession of England, in 1782, 
should be a “final” adjustment between the two nations, 
leaves no room to doubt his Grace’s mental reservation, 
and the existence of a diplomatic sophistry which the 
Irish Parliament, gulled by their own credulity, and en¬ 
veloped in a cloud of gratitude and exultation, were at 
that moment prevented from suspecting. 

VI. Mr. Hussey Burgh, and some other members, 
shortly but zealously supported this declaration of Irish 
independence—all was unanimity—not a symptom of 
opposition was manifested : but on the close of the pro¬ 
ceeding, a circumstance not less remarkable than dis¬ 
gusting unexpectedly occurred. 

Mr. John Fitzgibbon, whose indigenous hostility to the 
aberties of his country had never omitted any opportu¬ 
nity of opposing its emancipation, on a sudden became 
metamorphosed—assumed a strange and novel character, 
and professed himself not only the warmest advocate of 
Irish freedom, but a deadly and inveterate foe to that 
very system of British usurpation, the practice of which, 
till that moment, he had himself been an undeviating 
and virulent supporter. 

Mr. Fitzgibbon’s embarrassment in making this de¬ 
claration was too strong and too new in him to remain 
unnoticed—the unanimity of the House had left him no 
room for cavil—his former conduct had left him no room 
for consistency—his haughty disposition despised neu¬ 
trality, and his overbearing mind revolted from submis¬ 
sion ; his stubborn heart, though humiliated, was un¬ 
subdued. But he saw that he was unsupported by his 
friends, and felt that he was powerless against his ene¬ 
mies. To such a mind the conflict was most dreadful— 
a sovereign contempt of public opinion was his only 

Resolved unanimously, That an officer’s guard from each corps ol 
Volunteers in the city and county of Dublin, be mounted at Lord Charre. 
moat’s house, in rotation, at ten "o’clock ev ery morning. 


172 


RISE >.ND FALL 


solace, and never did he more fully require the aid of 
that consolation. 

This most remarkable, false, and inconsistent of all 
political recantations ever pronounced by a confirmed 
courtier, was delivered in the tone of a confirmed patriot. 
“ No man,’ 5 said Mr. Fitzgibbon, with an atfected em¬ 
phasis, “ can say that the Duke of Portland has poiver 
to grant us that redress which the nation unanimously 
demands ; but as Ireland is committed, no man, I trust, 
will shrink from her support, but go through, hand and 
heart , in the establishment of our liberties. As 1 was 
cautious in committing, so I am now firm in asserting the 
rights of my country. My declaration, therefore, is, that 
as the nation has determined to obtain the restoration of 
her liberty, it behoves every man in Ireland to stand 
firm.” Yet this was the Fitzgibbon who in a few years 
trampled on her liberties, and sold her constitution. 

The effect produced by this extraordinary speech from 
a man, the whole tenor of whose public life had been in 
hotility to its principles, neither added weight to the 
measure nor gained character for the speaker, disgust 
was the most prevalent sensation, but had he been a less 
able man, contempt would have been more prominent. 
All further debate ceased, the Speaker put the question 
on Mr. Grattan’s amendment; a unanimous “ aye” burst 
from every quarter of the house, he repeated the question, 
the applause was redoubled, a moment of tumultuous 
exultation followed, and, after centuries of oppression, 
Ireland at length declared herself an independent 
nation. 

This important event quickly reached the impatient 
crowds of every rank of society, who, without doors, 
awaited the decision of their parliament, a cry of joy and 
of exultation spread with electric rapidity through the 
entire city, its echo penetrated to the very interior of the 
house, every thing gave way to an effusion of happiness 
and congratulation that had never before been exhibited 
in that misgoverned country. 

VII. Ireland from that moment assumed a new aspect, 
she rose majestically from her ruins, and surveyed the 
author of her resurrection with admiration and with gra¬ 
titude. A young barrister, without professional celebrity, 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


173 


without family connections, possessed of no considerable 
fortune, nor of any personal influence, save that which 
talent and virtue involuntarily acquire, leagued with n<s 
faction, supported individually by no political party, be¬ 
came the instrument of Providence to liberate his coun¬ 
try, and in a single day achieved what the most able 
statesmen, the most elevated personages, the most power¬ 
ful and best connected parties never could effect. Aided 
by the circumstances of the moment, he seized the oppor¬ 
tunity with promptitude, vigour and perseverance ; but 
whilst he raised his country to prosperity, and himself to 
unexpected fortune and never-fading honour, he acquired 
vindictive enemies by the brilliancy of his success, and 
afterwards fell a temporary sacrifice to the perseverance 
of their malice and the dissimulations of their jealousy. 

Mr. Connolly and Sir Henry Cavendish also, on this 
night, as ardently supported the independence of Ireland, 
as if it was a principle engrafted on their nature, both 
of them had put their signatures to a “ life and fortune* 
declaration, to uphold the perpetual independence of their 
country, but it will appear in the progress of Irish affairs, 
how little reliance is to be placed on political declarations, 
where an alteration of circumstances or connections so 
frequently operates as a renunciation of principle. On 
the discussion of the Union in the year eighteen hundred, 
Sir Henry had exchanged the Duke of Devonshire for an 
employment in the treasury, and a new planet had arisen 
to influence Mr. Connolly; in that year both those gentle¬ 
men declaimed as conscientiously against the indepen¬ 
dence of the Irish nation, as if they had never pledged 
their “ lives and fortunes” for their perpetual support 
of it. 

It was impossible for any uninterested observer of the 
character and composition of the Irish Parliament to have 
conceived that the apparent unanimity of this night could 
have arisen from any one principle of universal action, 
men were actuated by various motives forming a mixed 
composition of patriotism and of policy; it was the una¬ 
nimous firmness of the people , and not the abstract vir¬ 
tue of their delegates, which achieved this revolution, nor 
is it possible to read some of the popular resolutions of 
that day without feeling admiration at the happy union of 
15* 


174 


RISE AND FALL 


spirit, of patriotism, and of prudence, which characterized 
their proceedings.* 

VIII. When the intelligence of these events was cir¬ 
culated through the nation, the joy and rejoicings of the 
people were beyond all description, every city, town, and 
village, in Ireland, blazed with the emblems of exultation, 
and resounded with the shouts of triumph, the Volunteers, 
however, were not dazzled by the sunshine of the moment, 
they became rather more active than more remiss ; much 
indeed was faithfully promised, but still every thing re¬ 
mained to be actually performed, and it soon appeared, 
that human life is not more uncertain in its duration than 
political faith precarious in its sincerity, the fair inten¬ 
tions of one government are generally called at least 
injudicious by its successors, political honesty has often 
vegetated in British Councils, but never yet did it survive 
to -the period of maturity, and the short existence of the 
Duke of Portland’s splendid administration warranted the 
cautious suspicion of the Volunteers, and afforded the 
succeeding ministry an opportunity for attempting those 
insidious measures which soon afterwards characterized 
anew the dispositions of the British Cabinet. 

The parliament, and the people, when the paroxysm of 
their joy had subsided, waited with some solicitude for 
the King’s reply to the Declaration of their independence, 
and a general suspension of public business took place 
until its arrival. It was, however, the first pause of con¬ 
fidence and tranquillity that Ireland had experienced since 
her connection with Great Britain; little could she then 
foresee that her new prosperity was but the precursor of 

* The following address of the Dungannon Convention to the mem¬ 
bers of parliament who had voted in the minorities in 1781, and the 
beginning of 1782, is extremely illustrative of their temper and firmness, 
and ma le a very deep impression on the public mind. 

“ My Lords and Gentlemen, 

“ We thank you for your noble and spirited, though hitherto inef¬ 
fectual efforts in defence of the great constitutional rights of your coun¬ 
try. Go on, go on, the almost unanimous voice of your country is with 
you, and in a free country, the voice of the people must prevail. We 
know our duty to our Sovereign, and are loyal. We know our duty to 
ourselves, and are resolved to be free. We seek for our rights, and" no 
more than our rights, and in so just a pursuit we should doubt the being 
of a Providence, f we doubted of success” 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


175 


futxrre evils and of scenes as cruel and as destructive as 
any she had ever before experienced. The seeds of the 
Irish Union were sown by the very same event which had 
procured her independence, so early as seventeen hundred 
and eighty-four that independence was insidiously assailed 
by a despotic minister under colour of a commercial tariff, 
m seventeen hundred and eighty-nine events connected 
with the malady of the Monarch and the firm adherence 
of the Irish Parliaments to the constitutional rights of the 
Heir Apparent determined the same minister in the fatal 
project of extinguishing the Irish legislature, and in 
seventeen hundred and ninety-eight a rebellion artificially 
permitted, to terrify the country, and followed by acts 
and scenes of unparalleled corruption, for a moment 
warped away the minds of men from the exercise of com¬ 
mon reason, and gave power and pretence to the British 
Cabinet to effect that extinguishment at a moment of 
national derangement. 


176 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER X. 

Design of the British Goverment to recall the independence of Ireland- 
Singular conduct of the Attorney General—His speech—Its powerful 
effect—Palpable dread of an Insurrection—Effect on England—Duke 
of Portland’s duplicity—Attains an ascendency over Earl Charlemont 
-'—Embarrassment of the English Cabinet—The Volunteers prepare for 
actual service—Imbecility of England—Insidious designs of the Eng¬ 
lish Government—Mr. Fox—Mr. Pitt—Important meeting of Parlia* 
ment—The Volunteer Regiments occupy the avenues to the House of 
Commons—Designs of the Duke of Portland—Duke of Portland’s 
speech—Mr. Grattan — Mr. Brownlow—The Recorder and Mr. 
Walshe oppose Mr. Grattan’s address — Mr. Flood neutral—Mr 
Walshe—Mr. Yelverton—The Secretary—Division—Consequent em¬ 
barrassment. 

I. The foundation of Irish independence had now been 
laid, by the spirit of the Parliament and the unanimity of 
the people; and the stately structure of Irish liberty 
seemed likely to rise with solidity and magnificence. The 
labourers were numerous and indefatigable; and nothing 
was to be dreaded but contrariety in the plans, or jealousy 
among the architects ; dangers which are proved by the 
sequel of her history, to be the true and substantial cause 
of Ireland’s annexation. It is demonstrated by facts, 
beyond the power of refutation, that from the moment the 
British ministry found it imperatively necessary to submit 
to this declaration of Irish independence, no consideration 
was paramount in their councils to the desire of counter¬ 
acting it. In furtherance of that object, from the period 
of the Dime of Portland’s administration to that of Lord 
Cornwallis, the old system of dividing the Irish against 
each other, and profiting by their dissensions, was artfully 
pursued by the English Ministry, to re-establish their 
own supremacy, and from that moment they resolved to 
achieve, at any risk or price, that disastrous measure, 
which, at one blow, has prostrated the pride, the power, 
and the legislature of Ireland, and reduced her from the 
rank of a nation to the level of a department. But the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


177 


people had now no leisure for suspicious forethought, oi 
mature reflection, and the interval between the declaration 
of independence, and the reply of his Majesty to that 
declaration, though a period of deep anxiety, neither 
awakened serious doubts, nor produced implicit confidence. 

An adjournment for three weeks was now proposed in 
the Commons, to give time for the arrival of Hi3 
Majesty’s Answer to their Address and Declaration. This 
motion, though it gave rise to a conversation rather than 
a debate, produced one of the most singular political 
phenomenons that had ever appeared in the history of 
any nation. 

Mr. John Scott, then' Attorney General, afterwards 
Lord Clonmel, whose despotic conduct had previously 
given rise to many and severe animadversions, took 
advantage on this occasion to recant his former and 
favourite political principle, that “ might constitutes 
right.” He now declared his firm and unqualified ad¬ 
herence to the claims of Ireland, in terms which, a week 
before, he would have prosecuted for as a seditious libel; 
and tendered his large fortune towards a general fund, to 
enforce from Great Britain the rights of his country, if 
force should become necessary. 

He said, that, “ he now felt it indispensable for him to 
throw offall equivocal and mysterious silence,and declared 
as his unchangeable opinion, that Great Britain never had 
any right whatever to bind his country, and that any acts 
she had ever done for that purpose were decided usur¬ 
pations. That if the tenure of his office of Attorney 
General depended upon the maintenance of doctrines in¬ 
jurious to the rights and independence of Ireland, it was 
an infamous tenure; and if the Parliament of Great 
Britain were determined to lord it over Ireland, he was re¬ 
solved not to be their villain in executing their tyranny.* 

* It is a very curious fact, that Mr. Attorney General Scott’s declara¬ 
tion of resisting the usurpation of England in 1782, was repeated in 
l^aO, by two other successive Attorney Generals of Ireland, though 
under different circumstances. Mr. William 8auiin, in his place in Par¬ 
liament, declared that he considered the Irish Representatives incompe¬ 
tent to exact a legislative union; and that any statutes, made by a Par¬ 
liament so constituted, would not be constitutionally binding on the Irish 
people. That gentleman, some time after, became Attorney General oi 
Ireland himself, and never afterwards repeated his scepticism 


178 


RISE AND FALL 


That if matters should proceed to the extremity to which 
he feared they were verging, he should not be an insignifi¬ 
cant subscriber to the fund for defending their common 
rights. That a life of much labour, together with the 
blessing of Providence, and what is commonly called good 
luck, had given him a landed property of £5,000 per year, 
and an office of great emolument, all which should 
certainly be devoted to the service of his country. That 
it would be disgraceful, for the paltry emoluments of an 
office to stand watching the vibrations of the balance, 
when he had determined to throw his life and fortune into 
the scale. I know,” concluded the Attorney General, 
“ that the public mind is on fire; I know that the deter¬ 
mination of the people is to be free; and I adopt their 
determination.” 

A speech of so strong and stormy a nature, never hav¬ 
ing before been uttered by any Minister or Law Officer 
of the British Empire, nor even by any member of the 
Irish Parliament, created a sensation which it is scarcely 
possible to describe/ One sentence conveyed a volume 
of information. 

“ If matters proceed to the extremities to which I fear 
they are verging,” was a direct declaration of mistrust in 
the Government he served ; and such a speech, made in 
Parliament by the first confidential executive Law Officer 
of the Crown, possessed a character of mystery and great 
importance. 

The dread of an insurrection in Ireland was thus, in 

Mr. Plunkett made the same declaration, but in rather stronger terms, 
as he vouched Cor his son as well as himself; and soon after became 
Attorney General. Mr. Forster, and numerous able lawyers, some of 
them junior judges, and many country magistrates, united in those senti¬ 
ments. 

No Member of the Irish Parliament opposed the Union more stren¬ 
uously, than the Author of this Work, and he united with those gentle¬ 
men in their opinion as to the incompetence of the Irish Parliament. 

* The author was present at all these important debates. On Mr 
Scott’s recantation, the sensation of the House was so striking and sin¬ 
gular, that he can never recollect it without emotion. For a moment, 
there was profound silence, gradually, the murmur of astonishment was 
heard, spreading from bench to bench, till one loud and general cry of 
approbation burst from every quarter of the House, and, in rapul and con¬ 
tinued plaudits, evinced the enthusiasm of that era, and the importance 
of that secession. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


179 


tfirect terms, announced by the King’s Attorney General; 
and by his intrepid determination to risk his life and 
fortune to support its objects, he afforded good reason to 
apprehend that his Majesty’s reply was not likely to be 
such as would cultivate tranquillity, and left no doubt that 
the Attorney General foreboded an unwise reluctance in 
the British Cabinet, to a measure so vital to the pep.ce, 
perhaps to the integrity, of the British Empire. This 
conduct of Mr. Scott, coupled with the previous secession 
of Mr. Fitzgibbon, must be looked on as among the most 
extraordinary occurrences of these, or any other times in 
Ireland. 

In the history of Nations and of Parliaments, there is 
not another instance of two such men, publicly professing 
and practising the principles of arbitrary power, being so 
humbled, and reduced to the abject condescension of feign¬ 
ing a public virtue they had theretofore but ridiculed, and 
assuming a fictitious patriotism, the result, at best, of 
their fears or of their policy. 

However, be the motive what it might, that most un¬ 
precedented conduct taught the British Government that 
they could no longer trifle with Ireland. Their power was 
then extinct; and no course remained but that of instantly 
relinquishing their long-vaunted supremacy, and surren¬ 
dering at discretion to the just demands of a determined 
and potent people: and the splendid, though temporary 
triumph achieved by Ireland, affords a glorious prece¬ 
dent for oppressed nations, and an instructive lesson for 
arrogant usurpation. 

II. Immediately on this unexpected turn, the Duke of 
Portland sent off two despatches to England ; one to the 
Cabinet as a public document, and the other, a private 
and confidential note to Mr. Fox. The latter document 
explained his reasons for the necessity he felt of acceding, 
without any appearance of reluctance, to any demands 
which might at that moment be made by the Irish Par¬ 
liament; but intimated “that so strong a difference of 
opinion appeared to exist between some gentlemen ot 
weight that arrangements more favourable to England 
might possibly be effected through their controversies , 
although he could not venture to propose such, were they 
perfectly unanimous. He stated, in conclusion, that he 


180 


RISE AND FALL 


would omit no opportunity of cultivating his connection 
with the Earl of Charlemorit, who appeared entirely dis¬ 
posed to place confidence in his administration, and to 
give a jiroper tone to the armed bodies over whom he 
had the most considerable influence.” 

So skilfully did he act upon these suggestions, that he 
inveigled the good but feeble Earl Charlemont entirely 
into his trammels; and as long as his Grace remained in 
the Irish Government, he not only much influenced that 
nobleman, but kept him at arms length from some of the 
ablest statesmen of the country, without their perceiving 
the insidious power that caused the separation. 

The other Ministers adopted the same principles, and 
they did not despair, by plausible conduct, according to 
the Duke of Portland’s policy, to temporize with all par 
ties, play off the people and the Parliament imperceptibly 
against each other; and, by gradually diminishing their 
mutual confidence, bring both to a dependence upon the 
good faith of the British Ministry, and so indispose the 
Irish Parliament from insisting upon any measures which 
might humble the pride, or alarm the interests of the Bri¬ 
tish nation. 

III. The British Cabinet had certainly great embar¬ 
rassments to encounter. They had the difficult step to 
take of gratifying the claims of Ireland, without affecting 
the egotism of Great Britain. But the relative interests 
of the two countries being in many points fundamentally 
repugnant, the dilemma of Ministers was extremely em¬ 
barrassing. It was doubly increased by a declaration of 
rights, and a positive demand, which anticipated the 
credit of a spontaneous generosity—an advantage which 
was now lost to them for ever. Their voluntary favours 
would now be changed to compulsory grants, the extent 
of which they could neither foresee nor control. 

While the British Cabinet and the Irish Viceroy 
actively corresponded, the Irish nation was not idle. No 
relaxation was permitted in the warlike preparations of 
the Volunteer army. Reviews and discipline were con¬ 
tinued with unintermitting ardour and emulation. Their 
artillery was daily exercised in the Phoenix Park, near 
Dublin. Camp equipage was preparing for actual service, 
and on the day to which the parliament adjourned, the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


181 


whoie of the Volunteer force of the metropolis was 
under arms, and fully prepared for the alternative (which 
the decision of his Majesty’s Cabinet, through the speech 
of its Viceroy, might impose upon the people) either to 
return to their homes for the peaceful enjoyment of their 
rights or instantly to take the field. Musters had been 
ordered, to ascertain the probable numbers of Volunteers 
ready for immediate and active service. The returns had 
increased from the former census to about 124,000 officers 
and soldiers, of whom upwards of 100,000 effectives, well 
armed and disciplined, and owning no superior but God 
and their country, would, on the first sound of an hostile 
trumpet, have rushed with enthusiasm to the standards of 
independence. The Volunteer regiments and corps were 
commanded by gentlemen of rank and consideration in 
the country, and disciplined by retired officers of the 
British army; the serjeants being chiefly veteran soldiers 
who had fought in the American campaigns, and learned 
from their own defeats, the powers of a people determined 
to obtain their freedom. The whole disposable military 
force of Great Britain was at that period inadequate to 
combat one week with the Volunteers of Ireland, com¬ 
posing an army which could be increased, at a call, by a 
million of enthusiasts; and which, in case a contest had 
arisen, would have also been liberally recruited by the 
desertion of the Irish soldiers from the British army— 
and nearly one third of that army was composed of Irish¬ 
men. The British Navy, too, was then also manned by 
what were generally denominated British tars; * but a 
large proportion of whom were in fact sailors of Irish 
birth and Irish feelings, ready to shed their blood in the 
service of Great Britain whilst she remained the f riend of 
Ireland , but as ready to seize and to steer the British 
navy into Irish ports, if she declared against their coun¬ 
try, and thus it ever will be. 

The safety of England was then clearly in the hands of 

* The mutiny at the Nore, in the channel fleet, confirms this observa¬ 
tion. Had the mutineers at that time chosen to carry the British ship3 
into an Irish port, no power could have prevented them; and had 
there been a strong insurrection in Ireland, it is more than probable they 
would have delive:ed one half of the English fleet into the handa c» 
their countrymen. 


16 


111SE AND FALL 


182 

Ireland, and one hostile step, at that perilous crisis of the 
two nations, must have terminated their unity, and of 
course the power of the British empire. But the Cabinet 
at length considered that resistance to the just demands 
of Ireland would be unavailing; and that she was then 
too powerful for England to hazard an insurrection, which, 
if once excited, it would have been impossible to suppress. 

Too cautious to risk a danger so imminent, they yielded 
to existing circumstances, and determined to concede; a 
system of conduct, which is called perfidy in private life 
and policy by Governments, has been very generally and 
very successfully resorted to in important political dilem¬ 
mas, and they adopted the low and cunning course of 
yielding with affected candour, and counteracting with 
deep duplicity. 

IV. The Cabinet reflected, also, that times and circum¬ 
stances cannot always remain unchanged, and that the 
political vicissitudes to which every State is subject 
frequently enable conceding powers to re-assume usur¬ 
pation ; and, when restored to strength and vigour, again 
to forget the law of nations and of justice, and explain 
away or deny the spirit of those engagements which theii 
feebleness had contracted. The events which have since 
occurred in Ireland, and the conduct and equivocation of 
the British Ministers in 1799 and 1800, proved to the 
world, that such were the premeditated and ulterior views 
of the British Cabinet, in 1782; and that the Duke of 
Portland was well aware of its objects, and freely lent 
himself to their perpetration. 

Mr. Fox never had any especial predilection for Ireland. 
He was ignorant equally of her rights,* and her localities; 
and he considered her only as the segment of a great 
circle, which he laboured to encompass. He wielded the 
grievances of Ireland only as a weapon of offence against 
the ministry. He was a great man, with a popular am¬ 
bition, and assumed the hereditary title of Whig, when 
its purest principles had nearly become obsolete. Mr. Pitt 
had in view the very same object, to rale; and they only 
differed in the means of affecting it. The one wished to 
vise upon the shoulders of the people; the other, to be 

* See Mr. Fox’s Letter to Earl Charlemont, April 1782. Hartly’i 
Life of C harlemont 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


183 


elevated upon those of the aristocracy. But the ambition 
of both was to govern the Empire. Their rivalry was of 
party, and their struggle was for power; but the internal 
prosperity of Ireland, as a distinct abstract consideration , 
gave not one hour’s solicitude to either one or the othei 
of those celebrated Ministers, though its resources were 
in part an object to both. 

The Duke of Portland was not of sufficient talent or 
weight to lead the Ministry; but he had enough of both 
to be an efficient accessory. A man of plain, fair, undis¬ 
tinguished reputation, can effect important acts of dupli¬ 
city, with less suspicion and more facility than more pro¬ 
minent and energetic personages; and when the moment 
of development arrives, he can plead the honesty of his 
character, and the error of his judgment: or, at the worst, 
he may gain a great point, and can only lose a narrow 
reputation. 

These observations may be interesting, as decidedly 
applicable to the administration of the Duke of Portland. 
His Grace’s conduct and speeches on the question of the 
Union, in 1800, leave no doubt that the whole tenor of 
his conduct, in 1782, must have been a premeditated 
tissue of dissimulation. 

V. The Irish House met, pursuant to the adjournment, 
on the 27th May 1782, a day teeming with importance 
to the fate of Ireland and the character of Great Britain. 
It is not easy to imagine the solicitude and impatience 
with which the people awaited the decision of Great 
Britain on its claims. 

On the morning of that memorable day, the Volunteers 
were under arms at an early hour. Their artillery, under 
the orders of James Napper Tandy, was stationed on the 
quays, and commanded all the bridges leading from the 
Military Barracks to the House of Parliament. The other 
corps, horse and foot, were posted at different stations of 
communication in the city; while some regular troops, 
formed in treble files, lined the streets for the passage of 
the Lord Lieutenant. But though neither party knew 
what would be the result of that day’s proceedings, nor 
whether war or peace would be proclaimed by the British 
Ministry, not a symptom of hostile feeling appeared on 
any side. The Volunteers and the regular troops saluted 


184 


RISK AND FALL 


each other as they passed, and reciprocally showed every 
mark of military courtesy. The strictest order prevailed; 
and the whole, by a combination most interesting and 
extraordinary, formed a scene to which history atfords 
no parallel. 

The Duke of Portland had not a very dignified demean¬ 
our, but, unfortunately, every body then considered him 
as a man of political integrity. His time, during the 
recess, had been skilfully employed, to gain upon the 
country gentlemen by flattering attention and courtly 
blandishment. 

His Grace had learned, from Earl Charlemont, the 
character of Mr. Grattan, before he saw him. He was 
fully apprised of his spirit and patriotism, and knew well 
that neither could be conquered ; but he conceived that 
by operating on the moderation and generous confidence 
of that virtuous Irishman, he might eventually divide the 
Parliament; chill the general enthusiasm of the people, 
and effect the objects of the British Government; and, 
before the meeting of Parliament, his Grace had made 
great progress in exciting shades of difference in the 
opinions of those who should have been unanimous. A 
premature gratitude, and credulous confidence, had al¬ 
ready prepared the House for his reception ; and he de¬ 
livered the speech from the throne, with a well-affected 
honesty of emphasis, and ail imposing appearance of in¬ 
dividual gratification. 

The Viceroy’s speech gave rise to a debate of the very 
highest importance, not only as affecting the interests 
and feelings of that day, but as influencing the subse¬ 
quent events and destiny of the Irish nation. 

“ My Lords and Gentlemen. It gives me the utmost 
satisfaction, that the first time I have occasion to address 
you, I find myself enabled, by the magnanimity of the • 
King, and the wisdom of the Parliament of Great Britain, 
to assure you that immediate attention has been paid to 
your representations, and that the British Legislature 
have concurred in resolution to remove the causes of 
your discontents and jealousies, and are united in a de¬ 
sire to gratify every wish expressed in your late Ad¬ 
dresses to the Throne. 

“ If any thing could add to the pleasure I feel in giving 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


135 


you those assurances, it is that I can accompany them 
with my congratulations on the important and decisive 
victory gained by the fleets of his Majesty over those ot 
the common enemy in the West Indies , and on the signal 
advantage obtained by his Majesty’s arms in the Island 
of Ceylon , and on the Coast of Coromandel. 

11 By the papers which, in obedience to His Majesty’s 
commands, I have directed to be laid before you, you 
will receive the most convincing testimony of the cordial 
reception which your representations have met with from 
the Legislature of Great Britain ; but His Majesty, whose 
first and most anxious wish is to exercise His Royal Pre¬ 
rogative in such a manner as may be most conducive to 
the welfare of His faithful subjects, has further given it 
me in command to assure you of His gracious disposition 
to give His Royal Assent to Acts to prevent the sup¬ 
pression of Bills in the Privy Council of this Kingdom, 
and the alteration of them any where ; and to limit the 
duration of the Act for the better Regulation and Accom¬ 
modation of His Majesty’s forces in this Kingdom, to the 
term of two years. 

“ These benevolent intentions of His Majesty, and the 
willingness of His Parliament of Great Britain to second 
his gracious purposes, are unaccompanied by any stipu¬ 
lation or condition whatever. 

“ The good faith , the generosity, and the honour of 
this nation, afford them the surest pledge of a correspond¬ 
ing dispostion, on your part, to promote and perpetuate 
the harmony, the stability, and the glory of the Empire. 

“ On my own part, I entertain not the least doubt, but 
that the same spirit which urged you to share the freedom 
of Great Britain, will confirm you in your determination 
to share her fate also, standing and falling with the Bri¬ 
tish Empire.” 

Mr. Grattan immediately rose. His unsuspecting and 
grateful mind, though congenial to the honest liberality 
of a patriot, was quite too conceding and inexperienced 
to meet the ways and wiles of deceptions statesmen. 
Misled by the apparent sincerity of that speech, and the 
plain and plausible demeanour of the Duke of Portland, 
he lost sight of every thing but confidence and gratitude, 
ttud left to deeper politicians to discover the snare that lay 
16 * 


186 


RISE AND FALL 


concealed amidst the soothing and honourable language 
of the Viceroy. 

He said,—“ That as Great Britain had given up every 
claim to authority over Ireland, he had not the least idea 
that she should be also bound to make any declaration that 
she had formerly usurped that power. This would be a 
foolish caution, a dishonourable condition.* The nation 
that insists upon the humiliation of another, is a foolish 
nation ; and Ireland is not a foolish nation. I move you, 
to assure His Majesty of our unfeigned affection to His 
Royal Person and Government; that we feel, most sen¬ 
sibly, the attention our representations have received from 
the magnanimity of His Majesty, and the wisdom of the 
Parliament of Great Britain ; to assure His Majesty, that 
we conceive the resolution for an unqualified, uncondi¬ 
tional repeal of the 6th George the First to be a measure 
of consummate wisdom and justice, suitable to the dignity 
and eminence of both Nations, exalting the character of 
both, and furnishing a perpetual pledge of mutual amity; 
to assure His Majesty, that we are sensibly affected by 
his virtuous determination to accede to the wishes of His 
faithful subjects, and to exercise His Royal prerogative in 
the manner most conducive to their welfare. That, gra¬ 
tified in those particulars, we do assure His Majesty, that 
no constitutional question between the two nations will 
any longer exist , to interrupt their harmony; and that 
Great Britain, as she approved of our firmness, may rely 
on our alfection ; and that we remember, and do repeat 
our determination, to stand or fall with the British Nation.” 

When Mr. Grattan concluded the Address, which was 
seconded by Mr. Brownlow, a most animated and inte¬ 
resting, though desultory debate, immediately ensued ; a 
debate too much connected with the subsequent transac¬ 
tions on the Union, not to be particularly noticed in this 
stage of the history. 

The Recorder of, and Member for, Dublin, Sir Samuel 
Bradstreet, a strong-minded public-spirited man, an able 

* This was a juvenile syllogism, where there were neither premises 
nor conclusion to support the argument. Credulity and wisdom are 
nearly incompatible. Ireland was a credulous nation ; ergo, she could 
not have been a wise one. Had Ireland been more sceptical in 1782, she 
Would have been less unfortunate in 1800. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


187 


lawyer, and independent Member of Parliament; of a 
rough, decisive, firm deportment, was the first who vein 
tnred to insinuate his dissent from the Address, and his 
suspicions of the Duke’s sincerity. He entirely objected 
to that sweeping clause of Mr. Grattan’s Address—“ That 
all constitutional questions between the two countries 
were at an end.” He stated that many were not yet 
touched upon,—many that were vital to Irish independence 
silll remained unnoticed: for he insisted that the Irish 
Parliament actually sat at that moment under an English 
Statute: and that the Address, as moved, was in some 
instances premature—in others too comprehensive—in all, 
defective. Subsequent events have since proved the sound¬ 
ness and the acuteness of his judgment and his foresight. 

Mr. Flood said but a few words, and they were rather 
insinuating than insisting on his dissent. He started 
some difficulties on the subject of external legislation— 
he expressed his opinion, that matters were not yet suf¬ 
ficiently advanced to form a decided judgment upon the 
extent and modifications of the proposed arrangements; 
but it was obvious that this great man was neither con¬ 
fident nor satisfied, and that he conceived, that though 
the chief demand had been made, and that grant acceded 
to, yet that it would require profound consideration, and 
a steady comprehensive system, to secure the tenure. 
He publicly anticipated nothing; but his own want of 
faith in the British Cabinet was obvious and compre¬ 
hensive. 

Mr. David Walshe, an able, pertinacious lawyer, cou¬ 
rageous and not conciliating, was a still more determined 
sceptic. He had a clear head, a suspicious, perverse 
mind, and a temper that never would outstretch itself to 
meet pacific objects. He debated well, but was too in¬ 
temperate to acquire or maintain a general popularity. 
A part of his speech on this memorable night is also of 
great importance. He followed Sir Samuel Bradstreet 
on the point of external legislation, and concluded with 
these remarkable expressions:— 

“ I repeat it, that until England declares unequivocally, 
by an act of her own legislature, that she had no right, 
in any instance, to make laws to bind Ireland, the 
usurped power of English legislation never can be com 


183 


RISE AND FALL 


sidered by us as relinquished. We want not the con¬ 
cessions of England to restore us our liberties. If we 
are true to ourselves, we possess the fortitude, we possess 
the will, and, thank God, we possess the power, to assert 
our rights as men, and accomplish our independence as a 
nation.” 

YI. The gauntlet was now thrown, the vital question 
was started—England was put on her defence, and 
Ireland on her trial. 

The great point of confirming the Irish independence 
and constitution being once started, never could be re- 
linguished ; it must be decided—the suspicion of English 
sincerity once raised, must be satisfied; and it appeared 
in a moment, that Mr. Grattan’s address could never be 
considered either secure or conclusive. But even those 
who thought so, did not conceive that the moment had 
as yet arrived when that subject should be so warmly 
discussed. 

Those who feared that a difference at so early a period 
might defeat all their expectations, chose rather to accede 
to an address they did not approve of, than hazard a dis¬ 
union which might never be remedied. 

Mr. Yelverton strongly recommended unanimity at that 
moment. It seemed, for prudential reasons, to be the 
general wish; and Mr. Walshe had withdrawn his oppo¬ 
sition—when Mr. Fitzpatrick, the Viceroy’s secretary 
artfully seized on the moment of inconsiderate gratitude, 
and threw out a defiance to those who endeavoured tj 
diminish its unanimity. This to such a temper as Mr. 
Walshe’s, had the effect intended, of causing a division— 
and the skilful secretary succeeded in his object. 

On the division, the Recorder and Mr. Walshe alone 
divided on the minority, and Mr. Grattan’s address was 
triumphantly carried, with all its imperfections; and a 
short period proved that these imperfections were neither 
few nor unimportant. The House adjourned amidst the 
universal acclamations of the ignorant and credulous 
people ; and the constitutional arrangements between the 
two countries were fatally supposed, from the tenor of 
the speech and the address, to have been entirely and 
for ever arranged to their mutual satisfaction. 

It is here proper to pause and reflect upon the em* 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


m 

barrassing situation into which this day’s debate had 
thrown both nations ; an embarrassment which, since 
that day, has never yet completely terminated, and pro¬ 
bably never will. 

The transcendent merits of Mr. Grattan, the unparal¬ 
leled brilliancy of his language, in moving the declara¬ 
tion of rights, his firmness and his patriotism, had raised 
him above all his countrymen. That declaration, it was 
believed, had restored the liberties of his country, and 
given him a just claim to all the rewards and honours 
which even the glowing gratitude of that country could 
confer upon him. But, unfortunately, his own honesty 
ied him to a mistaken confidence in that of others. The 
courtly patriotism of Earl Charlemont, always inclining 
him to a blind principle of conciliation, had its influence 
on Mr. Grattan, who was a statesman, great in principle, 
but inefficient in detail; and the moderation of Lord 
Charlemont was not ineffective nor merely passive, when 
restraining the vigour of a mind, that seemed to be 
created to think greatly and act decidedly, only upon 
gieat and decisive occasions. 


19 <) 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER XI. 

Toinporaty credulity of the Irish Parliament—Country Gentlemen 
Singular character of Mr. Bagenal—His Exploits—Popularity—Hi@ 
patriotism—^Commanded many Volunteer Corps—Gives notice of a 
motion to reward Mr. Grattan — Anti-prophetic observation — Mr 
Grattan’s increasing popularity—Hasty repeal of the declaratory act 
6th Geo. III.—And transmitted by the Viceroy to the Volunteers— 
Doctrine of Blackstone declared unconstitutional—Mr. Bagenal's motion 
to grant c £ 100,000, to Mr. Grattan—Mistaken pride of his friends— 
Extraordinary occurrence—Insidious conduct oi Government—Mr. 
Thomas Connolly makes a most unprecedented motion—Viceroy offers 
the Palace to Mr. Grattan and his heirs as a reward for his services — 
Objects of the Government in making the offer—Discovered by the 
indiscretion of the Secretary, Col. Fitzpatrick—His character—Real 
objects developed—Mr. Grattan’s friends decline so large a grant - 
Their mistaken principle—Effects of the calumnies against Ireland— 
False arguments—Comparison of the conduct of England and Ire¬ 
land—Comparative loyalty 

I. It is as extraordinary as it is true, that the weaknesses 
and foibles of Irish character were more strikingly dis¬ 
played during this important discussion, than upon any 
former occasion. A generous, ardent, credulous, un- 
statesman-like sensibility, appeared to have seized upon 
the whole assembly; and even the natural quickness of 
perception, and acuteness of intellect, which the members 
of that House displayed on ordinary and trivial subjects, 
seemed totally to have forsaken them during this me¬ 
morable debate—of more vital importance to the nation 
than any other that had ever taken place in the Irish 
Parliament. 

II. The country gentlemen of Ireland, at all times bad 
casuists and worse lawyers, appeared on this occasion to 
close both their ears and eyes, and to resign, with one 
accord, all exercise of judgment and discrimination. The 
word “ unanimity” operated as a talisman amonst them, 
and silenced all objections. The very important observa¬ 
tions of Sir Samuel Bradstreet and of Mr. Walshe were 
hardly listened to with patience. Mr. Flood himseh 
seemed to be overwhelmed and manacled; and those 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


191 


axioms and that reasoning which were ultimately acceded 
to and adopted even by the British Ministers themselves, 
were on this night considered as a species of treason 
against the purity of the British Government, and the 
sincerity of the Irish Viceroy. No voice but that of con¬ 
gratulation, joy, and confidence, could make itself heard. 
No suspicions durst be suggested—no murmurs durst fie 
uttered. The scene was new to Ireland; and exulta- 
ton took precedence for a time of both reason and re¬ 
flection. 

Beauchamp Bagenal, representative for Carlow county, 
so soon as the flurry of mutual congratulations had a 
ttle subsided in the House, proposed a measure well 
adapted to the circumstances of that moment, and most 
happily coincident with the sentiments of the people. 
How far it had been premeditated, or arose from the 
impulse of the moment, no person acquainted with the 
character and eccentricities of Mr.Bagenal could possibly 
determine. 

He was one of those persons, who, born to a large 
inheritance, and having no profession to interrupt theii 
propensities, generally made in those times the grand 
lour of Europe, as the finishing part of a gentleman’s 
education. Mr. Bagenal followed the general course: 
and on that tour had made himself very conspicuous. 
He had visited every capital of Europe, and had ex¬ 
hibited the native original character of the Irish gentle¬ 
man at every place he visited. In the splendour of his 
travelling establishment, he quite eclipsed the petty poten¬ 
tates with whom Germany was garnished. His person 
was fine—his manners open and generous—his spirit 
high, and his liberality profuse. During his tour, he had 
performed a variety of feats which were emblazoned in 
Ireland, and endeared him to his countrymen. He had 
fought a prince—jilted a princess—intoxicated the Doge 
of Venice—carried off a Duchess from Madrid—scaled 
(he walls of a convent in Italy—narrowly escaped the. 
Inquisition at Lisbon—concluded his exploits by a cele¬ 
brated fencing match at Paris ; and he returned to Ireland 
with a sovereign contempt for all continental men and 
manners, and an inveterate antipathy to all despotic kings 
and arbitrary governments. 


192 


RISE AND FALL 


Domesticated in his own mansion at Dunleckny—sur¬ 
rounded by a numerous and devoted tenantry—and pos¬ 
sessed of a great territory, Mr. Bagenal determined to 
spend the residue of his days on his native soil, according 
to the usages and customs of country gentlemen; and 
he was shortly afterwards returned a representative to 
Parliament for the county of Carlow, by universal accla¬ 
mation. 

Though Mr. Bagenal did not take any active part in 
the general business of the Irish Parliament, he at least 
gave it a good example of public spirit and high-minded 
independence. His natural talents were far above medi¬ 
ocrity ; but his singularities, in themselves extravagant, 
were increased by the intemperance of those times ; and 
an excellent capacity was neutralized by inordinate dis¬ 
sipation. Prodigally hospitable, irregular, extravagant, 
uncertain, vivacious; the chase, the turf, the sod, and the 
bottle, divided a great portion of his intellects between 
them, and generally left for the use of Parliament, only so 
much as he could spare from his other occupations. 

However, in supporting the independence and prospe¬ 
rity of Ireland, he always stood in the foremost ranks. 

Liberal and friendly, but obstinate and refractory, above, 
all his contemporaries, he had a perfect indifference lor 
the opinions of the world, when they at all differed from 
his own; and he never failed to perform whatever came 
uppermost in his thoughts, with the most perfect con¬ 
tempt as to the notions which might be formed either ol 
his rectitude or impropriety. 

He was one of the first country gentlemen who raised 
a volunteer regiment in the county Carlow. He com¬ 
manded several military corps, and was one of the last 
Volunteer Colonels in Ireland who could be prevailed 
upon to discontinue the reviews of their regiments, or to 
relinquish that noble, patriotic, and unprecedented insti¬ 
tution. However, he was, on this occasion, as politically 
short-sighted as he was nationally credulous. He could 
see nothing but sincerity in the Viceroy, honour in the 
British Cabinet, and an eternal cordiality between the 
two nations: and before the constitutional arrangemenl 
was well begun, he fancied it was completely concluded 
His admiration of Mr. Grattan was unqualified and ex 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


133 


tiavagant; and it was with an honest zeal and pure sin¬ 
cerity lie rose to propose a measure, at that period the 
most popular and gratifying to the Irish nation. 

III. Having passed many eulogiums on Mr. Grattan’s 
services to Ireland, he gave notice of an intended motion, 
“ that a Committee should be appointed, to consider and 
report what sum the Irish Parliament should grant, to 
build a suitable mansion and purchase an estate for their 
great deliverer.” 

in prefacing this notice, Mr. Bagenal, full of candour 
and credulity, used some expressions, so unfortunately 
anti-prophetic, as to render them worthy of marked ob¬ 
servation. He said, that Mr. Grattan had saved the 
country from an iron age, and unequivocally restored a 
golden one to his own country for ever. “ By our affec¬ 
tionate alliance with Great Britain, we shall not only be 
benefitted ourselves, but shall see a beloved sister revive 
from her misfortunes. This great man has crowned the 
work for ever; under his auspices the throne of freedom 
is fixed on a basis so firm, and which will always be so 
well supported by the influence the people must acquire 
•mder his system, that, with the help of God, there is no 
iauger, even of Parliament itself ever being able to shake 
it; nor shall any Parliament be ever again profanely 
styled omnipotent.” 

Mr. Grattan attempted to make some observations, but 
hi s voice was drowned in the general applause; and the 
house adjourned without further observations. 

IV. He alone now occupied the entire hearts of the 
people. 

They had no room for any other individual. Almost 
frantic with gratitude to their deliverer, they cried out, 
that the doctrines of Molyneux had triumphed in the same 
place where they had before been consigned to infamy. 
But the day of those pure and lofty feelings has passed 
away. A broken down constitution seldom recovers its 
pristine elasticity; and that enthusiastic, proud, patriotic 
spirit which signalized the Irish nation in 1782, driven to 
its tomb by misrule and by misfortune, can never rise 
again but on some congenial crisis. 

V. The British Ministry and Parliament now began to 
foel their own weakness. Their intolerance degenerated 

17 


194 


RISE AND FALL 


into fear; and responsibility began to stare them in the. 
face. The loss of America had been got over by tlioii 
predecessors without an impeachment; but that of Ireland 
would not have passed over with the same impunity. T1 le 
British Cabinet had already signed the capitulation, and 
thought it impossible to carry it too soon into execution. 
Bills to enact the concessions demanded by Ireland were 
therefore prepared with an expedition nearly bordering 
on precipitancy. The 6th of George the First, declara¬ 
tory of, and establishing the supremacy of England, and 
the eternal dependence of Ireland on the Parliament and 
Cabinet of Great Britain, was now hastily repealed, with¬ 
out debate, or any qualification by the British Legislature. 
This repeal received the royal assent, and a copy was in¬ 
stantly transmitted to the Irish Viceroy, and communica¬ 
ted by circulars to the Volunteer commanders. 

Chap. LIII. An Act, to repeal an Act made in the 
sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George 
the First, intituled, An Act for the better securing the 
dependency of the kingdom of Ireland upon the crown 
of Great Britain. 

Whereas, an act was passed in the sixth year of the reign 
of His late Majesty King George the First, intituled: An 
Act for the better securing the dependency of the king¬ 
dom of Ireland upon the crown of Great Britain; may it 
please your Most Excellent Majesty, that it may be 
enacted, and be it enacted, by the King’s Most Excellent 
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords 
spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present par¬ 
liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that 
from and after the passing of this Act, the above mentioned 
Act , and the several matters and things therein con¬ 
tained , shall be , and is , and are hereby repealed. 

Thus, the doctrine of Blackstone, that venerated Druid 
of English jurisprudence, who by his dictum had tried to 
seal the slavery of the Irish people, was surrendered as 
unconstitutional, and renounced by the very same legisla¬ 
ture that had enacted it. As England drooped, Ireland 
raised her head ; and for a moment she was arrayed with 
all the exterior insignia of an independent nation. 

VI. On the 30th of May, 1782, Mr. Bagenal resumed 
die subject of the reward to Mr. Grattan; and after a 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


19fl 


short, but animated speech, moved that “ £100,000 should 
be granted by parliament, to purchase an estate, and build 
a suitable mansion, as the reward of gratitude by the Irish 
nation, for his eminent services to his country.” No mem¬ 
ber could directly oppose a measure so merited, so popu¬ 
lar, and so honourable to the nation. No absolute mur¬ 
mur was heard; but the magnitude of the sum gave rise 
to many incidental observations ; and some friends of Mr. 
Grattan endeavoured to impress the house with the idea 
that he was altogether adverse to the measure, and 
conceived that his honours and gratification would be 
greater by the feeling of having served his country with¬ 
out other reward than that arising from its pure and un¬ 
sophisticated enjoyment. 

This idea in modern times, and under Mr. Grattan’s 
peculiar circumstances, was considered less the result of 
a true pride than of a patriotic vanity. Roman prece¬ 
dents were not applicable to Ireland, and his paternal 
estates were not sufficiently ample to support so distin¬ 
guished a man in the dignity of his station. And the 
wisest friends of Mr. Grattan considered such a grant 
not as a mercenary recompense, but the reward of patri 
otic virtue, conferred by the gratitude of a nation to 
elevate a deliverer. 

VII. While the House seemed to hesitate as to the 
wisest course of carrying the proposed grant into imme¬ 
diate execution, a most unexpected circumstance took 
place, which, though in its results of no important conse¬ 
quence, forms one of the most interesting anecdotes of 
Irish events, developes the insidious artifices to which the 
Government resorted, and forms an episode without a 
precedent in ancient or modern annals. 

Mr. Thomas Connolly,who, as a leading member of the 
Whig party, had entirely connected himself with the 
Duke of Portland; and though not holding any ministerial 
office, was a Privy Councillor, and considered to be par¬ 
ticularly confidential in the councils of the Viceroy, after 
many eulogiums upon Mr. Grattan’s unparalleled services 
to Ireland, stated, “ That the Duke of Portland felt 
equally with the Irish people, the high value of those 
services; and that he was authorized by the Lord Lieu¬ 
tenant to express, in the strongest terms, the sense he eu- 


196 


RISE AND FALL 


tertaiued of the public virtue of Mr. Grattan, and of his 
eminent and mportant services to Ireland: and as the 
highest proof he could give of his admiration and respect 
for that distinguished personage, he (the Lord Lieutenant) 
begged to oiler, as a part of the intended grant to Mr. 
Grattan, t'he Viceregal Palace in the Phoenix Park , to 
be settled on Mr. Grattan and his heirs for ever, as a 
suitable residence for so meritorious a person.” 

VIII. The Viceroy of His Britannic Majesty, offering 
to a private individual a grant for ever of the King’s best 
palace in Ireland, was repugnant to the principle of 
Monarchical Governments; while Mr. Bagenal’s proposal 
of a grant by the House of Commons, as a reward for 
the public services of one of their own independent mem¬ 
bers, appeared to the Viceroy as making the people every 
thing and the administration nothing. He saw clearly, 
that the public spirit was irresistible, and that the grant 
must pass ; and the Viceroy determined, at any sacrifice, 
io give it a tinge of ministerial generosity, and thereby 
deaden, as much as possible, the brilliancy and effect of 
a popular proceeding. He knew that if his proposal 
through Mr. Connolly should be accepted, the grant would 
have very considerably changed its democratic complex¬ 
ion, the prerogative would be somewhat preserved, and 
Mr. Grattan no longer considered as deriving his reward 
exclusively from the gratitude of his countrymen: the 
Crown would have its share in a claim to his acknow¬ 
ledgements; and thus the merit of the favour be divided 
between the people and the minister. 

This magnificent and unexampled offer, at first view, 
appeared flattering and showy ; at the second, it appeared 
deceptions; and at the third, inadmissible. Delicacy pre¬ 
vented any debate on the subject; and it would have 
died away without remark or observation, and have been 
rejected by a judicious silence, had not the indiscretion 
of Colonel Fitzpatrick betrayed the whole feeling and 
duplicity of the Government, and opened the eyes of 
many to the jealousy and designs of His Grace’s admin¬ 
istration. Though the secretary was extremely disposed 
to serve Mr. Grattan individually, the entire failure of 
the plan, and the frigid manner in which the royal offer 
hail been received on every side, hurt his official pride, 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


197 


and affected him extremely. He recollected his ministry 
but forgot his discretion; and he could no longer restrain 
himself from some observations equally ill-timed and 
injudicious. 

Colonel Fitzpatrick was the brother of the Earl of Upper 
Ossory. Though not an expert diplomatist, he was well 
selected to make his way amongst the Irish gentry, and 
consequently carry into effect the objects of the British 
ministers, and the deceptions of the Duke of Portland. 
He was ingenuous and convivial; friendly and familiar ; 
and theoretically honest, even in politics. His name was 
musical to the ear of that short-sighted community (the 
Irish gentry), and his casual indiscretions in Parliament 
were kindly attributed to his undesigning nature ; and 
of all qualities, an appearance of unguarded openness is 
most imposing upon the Irish 'people. But the office ot 
a minister or of a secretary is loo well adapted to alter, 
if not the nature, at least the habits of a private gentle¬ 
man ; and, as a matter of course, he relinquishes his can¬ 
dour when he commences his diplomacy. 

Whatever his individual feelings might have been as 
Colonel Fitzpatrick, it is impossible that in his capacity 
of secretary, Mr. Bagenal’s motion could have given him 
any gratification. He declared, that “ he conceived the 
power of rewarding eminent men was one of the noblest 
of the Royal Prerogatives, which were certainly a part 
of the constitution. He did not wish to be considered 
as giving a sullen acquiescence, but he conceived that 
marks of favour of this nature always appertained to the 
Crown alone, and he should have wished that this grant 
had come from the Royal hand; but, as the man was un¬ 
precedented, so was the grant; and he hoped this would 
not be considered as a precedent on future occasions.” 

IX. By these few, but comprehensive observations ot 
the Secretary, the apparently magnificent liberality of the 
Viceroy appeared in its real character, and dwindled into 
a narrow subterfuge of ministerial jealousy. Mr. Con¬ 
nolly appeared to have travelled out of his station, and 
officiously to have assumed the office of a minister, for a 
deceptive purpose, and lent himself to a little artifice, to 
irepan the Parliament and humiliate the people. 

By this rejected tender the Whig administration gained 


198 


RISE AND FALL 


no credit; they evinced a disposition to humble the Crown 
without elevating the people, and to wind the laurels of 
both around their own temples. 

The Viceroy considered a grant by the Commons tor 
democratic ; and the Parliament considered the Viceroy’s 
tender too ministerial. Mr. Grattan was a servant of the 
Irish people, and was utterly unconnected with the British 
Government. In every point of view, therefore, the Vice¬ 
roy’s offer, at that moment, was improper, and derogatory 
alike to the Crown and the individual. The Viceroy of 
Ireland proposing, on behalf of the King of England, to 
Ireland’s great patriot to reward his services for having 
emancipated his country from the domination of Great 
Britain, was an incident as extraordinary as had ever 
occurred in any government, and, emanating from that 
of England, told, in a single sentence, the whole history 
of her terrors, her jealousy, her shallow artifice and 
humbled arrogance. 

This • proposal was linked with many other insidious 
objects, but they were too obvious to be successful, and 
only disclosed that shallow cunning. His Excellency 
had perceived in Ireland the phenomena of a governing 
people, without a ruling democracy,—an armed and un¬ 
restrained population, possessing, without abusing, the 
powers of Sovereignty, and turning their authority, not to 
the purposes of turbulence or sedition, but to those of Con¬ 
stitution, order, and tranquillity. These armed Associa¬ 
tions, however irreproachable in their conduct, were un¬ 
precedented in their formation, and were fairly considered 
by His Grace with a lively jealousy, as tending to esta¬ 
blish a species of popular aristocracy, dangerous to the 
very nature of the British Constitution. 

X. Many friends of Mr. Grattan, or those who pro¬ 
fessed to be so, declared he would not accept of so large 
a sum as that proposed by Mr. Bagenal; but this was a 
mistaken, or an affected view of that subject. In fact the 
grant itself, not its amount, was the only point foi digni¬ 
fied consideration. However, after a considerable dis* 
cussion, it was diminished, by Mr. Grattan’s friends, to 
the sum of fifty thousand pounds, which was unani¬ 
mously voted to him; and never had a reward, more 
merited or more honourable, been conferred on any pat¬ 
riot by any nation. 


OF THh IrtlSH NATION. 


199 


The times when civic crowns conferred honours no 
monger existed ; property had become essential for impor¬ 
tance in society. The Irish Parliament had before them 
a sad and recent example of the necessity of such a re¬ 
ward, in the fate of Dr. Lucas, one of the best friends of 
Ireland, who had sacrificed himself to support his prin¬ 
ciples : a man who had, so far as his talents admitted, 
propagated and applied the doctrines of the great Moly- 
neux; and, like him, was banished, and, like him, de¬ 
clared a traitor; who had sat a Representative for the 
metropolis of Ireland; and whose statue still adorns the 
Royal Exchange of Dublin : a venerable Senator, sink¬ 
ing under the pressure of years and of infirmity, carried 
into their House to support its liberties,—sickening in 
their cause and expiring in their service ; a rare example 
of patriotism and independence; yet suffered to die in 
indigence, and leave an orphan offspring to become the 
prey of famine. With such a reproachful warning before 
the nation, it was for the people, not for the Crown, to 
take care that they never should be again disgraced by 
similar ingratitude. In these degenerate times, honours 
give no sustenance; and in the perverted practices of 
modern policy, it is not the province of the Monarch to 
reward the patriot. And this event leads the historian to 
others still more important. 

Upon every important debate on the claims of Ireland, 
in the British and Imperial Parliaments, the native cha¬ 
racter and political propensities of the Irish people had 
been uniformly made a subject of animated discussion ; 
and the loyalty of that Nation to her Kings had been put 
directly in issue, by both her friends and her enemies; 
by the latter, as a pretext for having abrogated her Con¬ 
stitution : by the former, as a defence against libel and 
exaggeration; each party asserting, that the past events 
of Irish history justify their reasoning, and afford evi¬ 
dence of their respective allegations. 

XI. It is, therefore, at this important epoch highly ex¬ 
pedient that this controversy of opinions, as to the loyalty 
of the Irish people, though probably digressive, should 
be decided by unequivocal historic matters of fact, unde¬ 
niable by either party ; and thereby, that the true princi¬ 
ples of a long persecuted and caluir.niated people, should 
ve no lonse/* mistaken nor misrepresented 



200 


RISE AND FALJ. 


A reference to the authentic Annals and Records of 
Irish History, indisputably proves that the unrelenting 
cruelties and misrule of their British Governors in early 
ages, goading the wretched natives to insurrection, formed 
the first pretext for afterwards branding them with s»i 
imputation of indigenous disloyalty, thereby exciting an 
inveterate prejudice against the Irish people ; which, be¬ 
coming hereditary, has descended, though with dimin¬ 
ished virulence, from father to son throughout the Eng¬ 
lish nation. 

These calumnies had their full and fatal operation, at 
an argument in urging the necessity of a Legislative 
Union; an argument at once refuted by reference even 
to the modern events of 1 T82, and to the unexampled 
moderation, forbearance, and loyalty of the Irish nation, 
who sought only a full participation in the British Con¬ 
stitution, though the moral and physical powers of that 
ardent people were then consolidated by their patriotism, 
and rendered irresistible by their numbers, their discipline, 
and their energy. 

XII. At that awful crisis of the British Empire, the 
Irish were an armed and triumphant people; England a 
defeated and trembling nation. Ireland was in the bloom 
of energy and of vigour; England on the couch of dis¬ 
comfiture and malady. And if the spirit of indigenous 
disaffection, so falsely imputated to the Irish Nation, had, 
in reality, existed, she had then full scope, and ample 
powers, to pursue and effect all its dispositions for an 
eternal separation. 

It is not, however, by modern or isolated events alone, 
that a fair judgment can be formed of the characteristic 
attributes of any nation ; still less so of a worried and mis¬ 
governed people. It is only by recurring to remoter 
periods, thence tracing, step by step, the conduct of Ireland 
throughout all her provocations, her miseries, and her 
persecutions, and then comparing the extent of ner suf¬ 
ferings, her endurance, and her loyalty, with those of her 
sister countries during the same periods, that the compa¬ 
rative character of both can be justly appreciated, and 
those calumnies which have weighed so heavily on her 
reputation be effectually refuted. 

It is a matter of indisputable fact, that during the 
twenty reigns which succeeded the first submission of th€ 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


201 


Irish princes, the fidelity of Ireland to the British mo- 
narchs was hut seldom interrupted, and that Irish soldiers 
were not unfrequently brought over to England, to defend 
their English sovereigns against the insurrections of 
English rebels. 

But when we peruse the authenticated facts of British 
annals during the same twenty reigns, we find an unex- 
tinguishable spirit of disaffection to their princes, and that 
an insatiable thirst for rebellion and disloyalty signalized 
every reign, and almost every year of British history, 
during the same period; that above thirty civil wars 
raged within the English nation; four of their monarchs 
were dethroned ; three of their kings were murdered, and 
during four centuries, the standard of rebellion scarcely 
ever ceased to wave over some portion of that distracted 
island; and so deeply had disloyalty been engrafted in 
the very nature of the British nobles and British people, 
that insurrection and regicide, if not the certain, were 
the expected consequences of every coronation. 

Through these observations, the eye of England will 
at length be directed to these events. They will then be 
convinced that there lurked within the bosom of Great 
Britain herself the germs of a disquietude more unre¬ 
mitting, a licentiousness more inflammatory, a fanaticism 
more intolerant, and a political agitation more dangerous 
and unjustifiable, than any which even her most inveterate 
foes can justly extract from an impartial history of the 
libelled country. 

This short digression must have the advantage of illus¬ 
trating the principles which led to the transactions of 
1798 and 1800, those gloomy epochs of Irish calamity; 
it may enlighten that dark and profound ignorance of 
Irish History and transactions which still obscure the 
intellect of the English people, and even leads members 
of the united Parliament to avow that utter ignorance of 
the very country and people as to whom they were at the 
same moment so severely legislating. Those men are 
surely the most injurious to the general tranquillity of a 
state, the collected power of united nations, and the 
safety of the common weal, whose prejudices ignorance 
and bigotry lead them by wanton irritation to engender 
uncongenial feelings in eight millions of so powerful 
indent, and generous a portion of the empire. 


202 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER XII 

Epitome of Irish History—Treacherous system of the English Govern* 
ment—First Irish Union—Second Union compared with the first— 
King Henry’s Acts in Ireland—His plan to decimate the nation—He 
relinquished his dominion over Ireland—Abortive attempts to colonize 
—Totally failed. 

1. The Irish annals, though more imperfect, can be traced 
by tradition farther back than those of England. Ancient 
records, and other evidence also of a most indisputable 
nature, of the eighth and preceding centuries, prove that 
in the earliest ages Ireland had been the seat of literature, 
arts, and refinement; and scarcely a year passes without 
discovering strong proofs of her former wealth, skill, and 
magnificence.* She first degenerated under the invasion 
of northern barbarians; and while England profited by 
the intercourse of her great and accomplished conquerors. 
Ireland had retrograded under the ignorance and brutality 
of hers. 

By the great battle of Howth, her Danish tyrants were 
at length exterminated, and Ireland was gradually re¬ 
covering her original prosperity, when she found that 

* Some English writers, of the best authority, acknowledge the high 
state of learning and civilization, which existed in Ireland during the 
early ages; and numerous works and manuscripts now in the Vatican 
and the Royal Library at Paris, put the truth of that fact beyond all ques¬ 
tion. The variety and exquisite workmanship of ornaments and weapons 
of solid gold, still occasionally found buried in the bogs of Ireland, leave 
no doubt that great metallic wealth and superior skiil once existed in 
that country, and that some of the arte were cultivated there to an almost 
unexampled perfection. The author has seen a solid piece of virgin 
gold, found in one of the Wicklow gold mines, about twenty-eight miles 
from Dublin, larger than a racket ball, and a great quantity of smaller 
dimensions. The mines extend many miles up the bed of a shallow 
stream, springing from the cliffs in the mountains. And an Irish statute 
in the reign of Henry the Fourth, prohibiting the native Irish from usin« 
gold stirrups and bridles, is a convincing proof that, even since the Eng* 
lish invasion, sumptuary laws were judged proper to restrain the remain 
mg tendency to profuse splendour among the Irish chieftains. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 203 

she had only changed the name, not the nature of her 
slavery. 

It was at this commencement of her convalescence, and 
before the Irish monarch had as yet been able to reform 
the chiefs or re-establish his authority, that a band ol 
British adventurers, headed by Stiguel Strongbow, a Bri¬ 
tish nobleman, abetted by the subtlety and practices of a 
vicious native chieftain, the treacherous Mac Murrough, 
landed in Ireland, with a view to mend their fortunes by 
conquest, and by plunder. 

Earl Strongbow found in Ireland a powerful but a dis¬ 
jointed people, who though they had regained their in¬ 
dependence, were still divided by jealous factions,— 
enfeebled by civil warfare, and dispirited by the dread of 
recurring contests. He found it a worn down, palsied 
nation, well adapted to become a prey to the impression 
of arms, or the wiles of treachery. He was lavish in the 
use of both. She struggled much with these disciplined 
adventurers ; but her vigour had been exhausted by her 
civil contests, and, though occasionally victorious, her 
energy had declined, and her powers were but inter¬ 
mitting. As her strength failed, her terrors augmented; 
and she was finally induced to listen to the deceptious 
representations of Strongbow and Mac Murrough; and 
after an ineffectual resistance she fell beneath the mingled 
pressure of arms and of seduction. At a conference in 
1170, her Chieftains were told nearly in the same words 
which disgraced her Parliament in 1800, that there could 
be no remission of her internal feuds, no protection against 
future massacres, but by a voluntary sacrifice of that mis¬ 
chievous and agitating independence, which she had so 
uselessly enjoyed, and was so unavailingly contending for, 
but that, if united to the flourishing and powerful realm 
of Britain, its benevolent and potent monarch would then 
find it to be the interest of his empire to arrest all her 
feuds, and promote her prosperity. 

II. Though the spirit of national independence still 
lingered in the country, her heart was broken; the melan¬ 
choly recollection of feuds, of defeats, and misfortunes, 
made a powerful impression on the jealous and divided 
leaders. Mac Murrough’s treachery had destroyed all 
confidence amongst the Princes—discord had torn the 


204 


RISE AND FALL 


Royal Standard of the Irish Monarch—the Chieftains 
had no general rallying station to collect their powers 
they submitted to the invaders, and each stipulated for 
himself, and influenced his Kernes* to a reluctant capi¬ 
tulation 

The choice of difficulties and dangers, or of rewards 
and honours, was held out to the most obdurate opponents 
of British annexation. Some leaders were gained by 
specious promises of territory; many were beguiled by 
the assurance of future protection, and a large portion 
of the chieftains at length yielded to the sway of a British 
sceptre. 

But this submission never was unanimous. Many who 
would have resisted it to the last extremity, were dismayed 
and scattered; many who retained the power to resist it, 
were terrified or corrupted ; and though the acquisition 
of the entire island appeared to have been effected by the 
adventurers, the appearance was fallacious. However, 
the English Strongbow gained great honours for his 
achievement, the Irish Mac Murrough obtained great 
rewards for his treachery, the adventurers were com¬ 
pensated at the expense of the natives: and the First 
Union of Ireland with Britain, in the year 1173, received 
a royal assent and consummation from the Second Henry. 

It is very remarkable, that though the occurrences 
were so different, the persons so dissimilar, and the periods 
so remote, the circumstances attending this first annexation 
of Ireland cannot be reflected on without, the memory 
also recurring to the circumstances of the last. Though 

* Kernes were a species of followers who attended the Irish Chief¬ 
tains, ready to execute any business to which their patrons might order 
them. The Chiefs generally gained importance with the King in propor¬ 
tion to the number of Kernes he could produce, when the King had occa¬ 
sion for their assistance: and when a Chief made terms for himself, he 
generally stipulated for his Kernes into the bargain. 

They despised any independent mode of livelihood; and often lived 
in a state of expectation on their Chief, or by the public. This race 
seems not to have been totally extinct in Ireland, in 1800 , though they 
then existed under the denomination of gentlefolks. See the fac simile 
of Mr. Robert Crowe’s letter, annexed to this volume, respecting Lord 
Castlereagh's treaty with the Earl of Belvidere, to purchase Messrs. 
Knox and Crowe (two of his Lordshp’s members): Witnessed by the 
Rev. Mr. Usher, his Lordship’* chaplain .—Litera scripta manct. 


OF THE IRiSH NAT’ 3N. 


205 


Cornwallis was not St.ron.gboW, though Castlereagh was 
not Mac Murrough, though the Peers were not Princes, 
and the Commons were not Kernes ; and though nearly 
seven centuries had intervened between the accomplish¬ 
ment of these unions, it is impossible not to recognize in 
their features a strong family resemblance. 

Henry lost no time in repairing to the Irish metropolis, 
where, in great state he received the allegiance of his new 
but reluctant subjects; and feasted the Irish Princes in a 
style of magnificence and splendour unusual in those 
times. But his banquets were those of policy, his splen¬ 
dours were founded on contempt, and before the games 
and rejoicings which accompanied those celebrated feasts 
were yet entirely terminated, the beards of Irish Kings 
had been pulled by the vassals of the English monarch.* 

III. Henry, on his return to England, soon perceived 
that the submission of such a people, effected by such 
means, could never be permanent; that his Irish sove¬ 
reignty, if not actually precarious, must be inevitably 
embarrassing. He found that his narrow revenues were 
inadequate to the expenses of perpetual and desultory 
warfare; and truly conceived, that the most certain, 
cheap, and feasible mode of retaining his new subjects in 
due subjection, would be by fomenting the jealousies 
which had reduced them to his authority, and aggravating 
those feuds which he had promised to extinguish; and 
thus, by alternately fostering and depressing the contend¬ 
ing factions to embroil them in eternal contests, and leave 
them no strength to regain their independence when they 
returned to their reason. 

This system of misrule, connecting a decrease of their 
resources with an increase of their ignorance, had then a 
powerful operation in keeping down the people: and this 

* Henry had a temporary palace erected on Hoghill (now St. Andrew 
Street^ Dublin, where he entertained such Irish princes as acknowledged 
him for their liege lord. The singularity of their dress and manners 
were subjects of amusement and ridicule to Henry's courtiers. He en¬ 
tertained them on a feast of storks, a bird never eaten in Ireland. These 
banquets, which lasted nine days ended without any permanent advan¬ 
tage to Henry. Most of the princes and chiefs considered themselvea 
insulted by the familiarity of his followers, and returned home with a 
full determination to reassert their independence and resist his authority 
eta tire first favourable opportunity. 


206 


RISE AND FALL 


same fundamental and favourite principle of governing Ire- 
.and has been effectively adopted by every king, usurper, 
and minister of England, for seven distracted centuries 

Henry having discovered by experience that his nomi* 
nal kingdom of Ireland was likely to afford him, in the 
end, little more than a fertile desert, sprinkled over with 
inveterate enemies; and that neither peace, nor strength, 
nor honour, nor what to him was more important, tribute, 
was likely to be the produce of his newly-acquired terri¬ 
tory, became indifferent to its state, and left it to its destiny. 

The successors of Henry also perceiving that they 
possessed but a naked and consuming power, equally 
unprofitable and precarious, formed the design of coloni¬ 
zing Ireland by English settlers; who, connecting them¬ 
selves by affinity with the uncultivated natives, would 
improve their habits and gradually introduce a growing 
attachment to the English people. 

IV. This theory was plausible and meritorious; but the 
propensities of human nature were not calculated on in 
the execution; the project was merely abstract, uncon¬ 
nected with any general system of wise or conciliatory 
government: and the attempt at colonization, instead of 
producing in the Irish a more congenial feeling only con¬ 
firmed their hatred, increased their powers, and became 
one of the keenest thorns that ever pierced the side of 
British governments. 

There is something cordial, open, and joyous, in the 
native Irish character, which never fails to attract and 
seldom to attach, strangers who reside amongst that peo¬ 
ple. Even their errors become contagious by protracted 
intercourse; and the habits and propensities of the host 
and of the domiciliated foreigner become quickly and 
almost imperceptibly assimilated. 

This malady became almost epidemic amongst the 
colonists, whom the policy of England had vainly sent 
over to improve the people. On all important occasions, 
the new race evinced a more than ordinary attachment to 
the place of their settlement, and vied with the Irish in an 
inveterate hostility to the domination of their own compat¬ 
riots ; and in the direct descendants of those British colo¬ 
nists, England has since found many of the most able, dis¬ 
tinguished, and persevering of her political opponents. 


OF THE IRISH NA ION. 


207 


CHAPTER XIII. 

frelar 1 kept in a state of oppression and turbulence—Elizabeth becomes 
Qu;en — Character public and private of Queen Elizabeth—Henry 
the VIII.—Fanaticism of the English—True principles of tolerance— 
Union of religion and political fanaticism—Religious schisms excited 
through Luther—Violent dissensions—The Irish roused—Cruel tyran¬ 
ny of Elizabeth—Earl of Tyrone excites the Irish—Extract from his 
speech—General rising of the Irish and old English colonists—Im¬ 
mense slaughter—Confiscation of whole provinces to Elizabeth—Ac¬ 
cession of James the First—Comparison with Elizabeth—His wise 
maxims—Conciliatory principles—Its full success—Charles the First— 
Disloyalty of the English—Ireland desolated by Cromwell. 

I. The English monarchs, disappointed in this plausible 
project, perceived that colonization was a hopeless expe¬ 
dient, and became more inveterate against “ the degene¬ 
rate English of the Pale,” than against the aboriginal 
natives; and for some centuries in every contest of the two 
nations, a full proportion of the British settlers, or of their 
descendants, fell by the executioner, or under the sword of 
their own countrymen. Through the same vicious policy 
by which Ireland had been kept in perpetual warfare, it 
remained in a state of ignorance, misery, and turbulence, 
when Elizabeth, one of the most sagacious of rulers, and 
the most unprincipled of women, succeeded to the throne, 
and to the vices of her father. 

Compared with later periods, Elizabeth’s sphere of 
action was contracted. Compared with modern times, her 
reign was a reign in minature. But at all times it would 
have been considered a reign of talent, and in all countries 
a reign of tyranny. 

II. She was well adapted to rule over a nation, where, 
il she governed with success she might govern despotically. 
The uncontrolled tyranny of her father, had prepared her 
subjects to admire any thing on their throne superior to a 
monster. The imbecility of her brother was contrasted 
with the vigour of her own intellect; and she assumed 
the British sceptre, with all the advantages which expe¬ 
rience and expectation could excite in a worried people. 


208 


RISE AND FA L 


Her reign is celebrated as the most glorious and admired 
era of British history; but, with all its merits, it owed 
much of its celebrity to the darkness of the times, the 
habitual slavery of the people, the sex of the monarch, 
and the talents of the ministry. And Charles afterwards 
lost his head, and James his throne, for assuming a small 
] ortion of that despotic rule which is eulogized by the 
biographers of their female predecessor. 

The wisdom of Elizabeth was not the wisdom of philo¬ 
sophy. It was a penetrating sagacity, prompt, vigilant, 
and indexible. The energy of her resolution, and her 
profound dissimulation, surmounted what her physical 
powers would have been unable to accomplish ; at home, 
she was despotic, abroad, she was victorious; by sea, by 
land, by negotiation, she was every way successful. The 
external glory of England arose under her administration. 
Providence seemed to pardon her disregard of moral 
principles, and to smile even upon the vices of this 
celebrated female. The people admired her, because 
she was a successful queen; and she liked the people, 
because they were submissive vassals. By the acuteness 
•f her discrimination she chose able ministers. They 
served her with fidelity, because they feared her anger 
and they flattered her vanities, because it prolonged her 
favour. But they served her at their peril; and she 
selected and sacrificed them with equal policy and in¬ 
difference. 

She affected learning, and she professed religion. In the 
one she was a pedant without depth; and in the other, 
she was a bigot without devotion. She plundered her 
people, to be independent of her parliaments; and she 
bullied the parliaments to be independent of the people. 
She was frugal of their money where she had no passion 
for expending it; and she was generous to her favourites 
for her own gratification. 

Magna Charta had been trampled on by a succession of 
tyrants. The principles of civil liberty had been forgotten 
in the country; and, throughout the whole course of her 
reign, Elizabeth assiduously laboured to retain her 
people in the most profound ignorance of constitutional 
ft ?edom. 

The word mercy was banished from hei vocabulary 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


209 


Her administration as to Ireland where she experienced 
no restraint, gave the strongest proofs that she felt no 
compunctions. In her nature there was no feminine soft¬ 
ness to moderate her cruelties ; no moral scruples tc 
arrest her conscience ; no elevated generosity to contract 
her dissimulation. Though she was mistress of the great 
qualities, she was a slave to the little ones;* and though 
the strength of her judgment somewhat restrained the 
progress of her vices, she was intrepid but harsh, trea¬ 
cherous, and decisive; even the spirit of murdered Mary 
could not appall her fortitude. The eyes of the people 
were closed by the brilliancy of her successes, and the 
crimes of the woman were merged in the popularity of 

* Mr. Hume’s life and character of Queen Elizabeth appear altogether 
irreconcileable to each other. In his delineation of her character , he 
states her to be a princess of the most “ magnanimous virtues ” In the 
anecdotes of her life, he states her to have been guilty of as tyrannic,, 
cruel, and treacherous actions as any crowned head (Richard excepted) 
that ever filled the throne of England. Amongst numerous other exam¬ 
ples of her “ magnanimous virtues ,” Mr. Hume details her interview 
with the Lord Chancellor Bacon, when Her Majesty declared with vehe¬ 
mence, that she would order Mr. Hayward, an innocent inoffensive man, 
to be put upon the rack and tortured, solely because he had translated 
some passages of Tacitus, which Her Majesty’s ignorance of that author 
permitted her to suppose were Hayward’s own composition, and were 
intended to reflect upon herself 

Mr. Hume’s attempt to apologise for the despotic conduct of Elizabeth 
certainly requires a very ample apology for himself. He says, “ She 
did not always do what was best, but she did what was usual the 
most tyrannic political principle ever avowed by any modern historian 
What was “best” was her imperative duty as a Sovereign, what was 
“ usual ” (after the reigns of her father and her sister) must be the apol¬ 
ogy of a tyrant, sheltering the commission of crime under the protection 
of precedent. Mr. Hume might as justly excuse her errors by the pre¬ 
cedent of the Emperor of Morocco, who makps the same apology for 
shooting one of his subjects every morning as a matter of amusement, 
because it was usual. Had some of Mr. Hume’s antitheological essays 
been published in the reign of his favourite Elizabeth, the author cer¬ 
tainly would have retracted either on the rack, or among the faggots, 
every eulogium on her “ magnanimous virtues.” 

As a further exemplification of Elizabeth’s “ magnanimous virtues,’* 
Mr. Hume states also (vol. v. page 449), a letter of that Queen, to the 
Earl of Sussex, expressing her displeasure, that proper severity had 
not been exercised against some English insurgents, although it appeared, 
that his Lordship had previously hanged above eight hundred of them 
to gratify his mistress. However, this was merciful, in comparison with 
ter orders to Carew and Mountjoy, as to the Irish. 

18 * 


£10 


RISE AND FALL 


the monarch. Such was the British princess, who first 
projected ail extirpation Df the aboriginal Irish; and she 
soon discovered and put into action the most deadly 
weapon to effect her purposes. 

III. Her father, Henry, the Nero of British history 
had assumed, as a pastime, the trade of a theologist, 
and changing his religion as often as he decapitated his 
consorts, at length settled his veering faith, by declaring 
himself a Reformist, with the most unqualified intolerance 

Theological disputes, after this important auxiliary K 
the Reformation, altogether divested the minds of men of 
the attributes of common reason; and the black3st erio* 
mities were considered as the most holy virtues, if they 
corresponded with the fanaticism of deluded imagi¬ 
nations. 

Henry’s sectarial versatility had extended not only to his 
subjects, but to his children. Mary and Elizabeth had 
embraced adverse tenets with equal pertinacity; and the 
whole population of England plunged at once, under the 
cloak of religion, into the commission of the very crimes 
which were prohibited by its precepts. 

One moment of calm unbigotted reflection must con¬ 
vince every man, not only of the folly, but of the impiety 
of such controversies. The point is plain, the dogma 
simple, that no human authority should control man, as 
to his choice of what words he may utter, what language 
he may adopt, what posture he may choose, or what cere¬ 
monies he may practice, in the abstract act of piously 
supplicating the mercy of his Creator. 

Common sense, however, had taken its flight from Eng 
land; and the doctrines of Martin Luther, not a founde., 
but a fanatical Reformist, soon became the greatest 
scourge that had ever been laid in chastisement upon a 
sinful people. 

His doctrines, which professed only to simplify the 
exercises of Divine worship, to purify religion from the 
dross with which it had amalgamated through priestcraft, 
to diminish the mysteries of Revelation, and reconcile the 
inconsistencies of Christian theories, failed in its professed 
end, and instantly kindled a fanatic fire which enveloped 
m its flames the reason of mankind ; and which, daily 
mpplied with new fuel, has continued to the present day 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


211 


alternately smothering and blazing, and consuming, with 
an inextinguishable violence. 

IV. The incendiaries of modern times have preserved 
this destructive fire for their own purposes. They per¬ 
ceived that the return of reason must be the death of 
fanaticism, and that discord amongst a people would not 
survive the extinction of religious prejudice, without the 
aid of some new excitement; political feuds have been 
therefore cultivated, as theological ones were losing 
ground ; and a novel and complicated system of discord 
has been invented which, by artfully entangling the theory 
of politics with the theories of religion', and fallaciously 
affecting to render their combination inseparable, has per¬ 
petuated animosities which were declining with rapidity. 
And this culpable and insidious policy appears to have 
been most sedulously and successfully cultivated in 
Ireland. 

Elizabeth, even in those early times, well knew the 
efficacy of this species of weapon, to inflame, to divide, 
and to conquer. 

The Reformation (now fully established in England) 
furnished her with a weapon for the general subjugation 
of Ireland, more fatal and effective than the keenest sword 
which had been whetted by any of her predecessors for 
the same purpose. 

Y. The later of the English settlers in Ireland had 
embraced the novel doctrines of Luther. The natives 
and the old English colonists adhered to the original 
faith. This portion of the people, therefore, perse¬ 
cuted aud stigmatised, sunk into ignorance; and, hunted 
down as outlaws, finding no protection but with their 
chiefs, and no instruction but from their clergy, naturally 
attached themselves to both with a savage fidelity. Eliza¬ 
beth took advantage of every circumstance to attain her 
objects. The reformation was not only proclaimed, but 
enforced in Ireland with unexampled rigor. A few adopt¬ 
ed, most rejected, but none comprehended it. Elizabeth 
having lighted the firebrand at both ends, tossed it amongst 
the people. The sects fought around it, and Elizabeth’s 
officers gave out, “ Reform,” as the watch-word of the 
combatants, and the pretext for extermination. 
n, he contending factions massacred each other without 


212 


RISE AND FALL 


mercy or compunction, and without any intelligible reason 
for their individual animosities. 

The famished, harassed people, in the midst of blood 
and flame, naturally became alive to every feeling, and 
susceptible to every argument, which could show them 
the way to even a prospect of alleviation. Their chiefs 
and their clergy were their only instructors, who in the 
wild, strong, persuasive language of their country, im¬ 
pressed in glowing figures on the shivering multitude, the 
excesses of their misery, fired their irritable minds by a 
distant prospect of deliverance, and harrowed up all the 
feelings of hatred to their oppressors, which torture and 
famine had implanted in their bosoms. 

Elizabeth proceeded systematically in her projects. 
She first ordered the performance of the Catholic worship 
to be forcibly prohibited in Ireland. She ordered the 
rack to be employed, and directed her officers to torture 
the suspected Irish. She ordered free quarters on the 
peasantry to gratify her soldiers, and rouse the natives to 
premature insurrections. Her executioners were ordered 
to butcher them without mercy. Religion was abolished 
by martial law , and Divine worship prohibited under 
pain of death. 

This curious order of Queen Elizabeth remains still on 
record. By her instructions to the Deputy of Munster 
(Carew) in 159P 9, on his going over to carry her exter¬ 
minating schemes into execution in that country, she au¬ 
thorizes her officers to u put suspected Irish to the rack , 
and to torture “ them when they should find it conveni¬ 
ent” Carew fulfilled her Majesty’s instructions to their 
full extent, and at the conclusion of his government she 
had the satisfaction of finding that Munster was nearly 
depopulated. 

It is here well worthy of reflection, that the exercise o 
free quarters and martial law, the suspension of all muni¬ 
cipal courts of justice, the discretional application of the 
torture to suspected persons, executions in cold blood, 
and the various measures which Mountjoy and Carew, 
and the other officers of Elizabeth practised in Ireland by 
her authority in 1598-9, were again judged to be expe¬ 
dient, and were again resorted to with vigour in the years 
1798-9, two hundred years after they had been practised 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


213 


i y the ministers ot Elizabeth. The ruinous misrule of 
Ireland for nearly two centuries, and the errors of Eliza¬ 
beth’s barbarous policy, are proved beyond all controversy 
by the extent of improvement in Ireland, and in the habits 
of the Irish people, in a very few years, under the mild 
and benevolent administration of James the First, her 
successor, and the adoption by him of a system of govern¬ 
ment diametrically the reverse of that which had been 
practised by Elizabeth, proves that Ireland advanced 
more in loyalty, prosperity, and civilization, under a tem¬ 
perate and conciliating administration in a few years, 
than in four centuries of coercion and severity; a prece 
dent which should never have been lost sight of by Bri¬ 
tish ministers, but to which they seemed too long to have 
been either entirely blind, or criminally inattentive. Ire¬ 
land never was governed, nor ever can be ruled, by any 
coercive system, and those who think otherwise know 
little of her character. 

Harassed by every mode that the ingenuity of oppres¬ 
sion could inflict or dictate, the natives, already barbarised 
by servitude, became savage by irritation ; and at length 
the whole population, wrought up to frenzy, flew into 
resistance, and have been libelled as traitors to the Bri¬ 
tish crown for asserting the indefeasible rights of human 
nature, and claiming the enjoyments of civil liberty, for 
which their allegiance to Elizabeth was only a “ condi¬ 
tion subsequent .* 

IV. The Earl of Tyrone, an Irish chieftain, was a man 
of great talents, and for those days a powerful leader. 
Skilful, courageous, and persevering, he raised the stan¬ 
dard of insurrection against the government of Elizabeth. 
He represented to the wretched natives in the animating 
colours of uncultivated eloquence : “ The miseries they 
had been enduring under the tyranny of their oppressors.” 

He presented to their view the proclamation of Eliza¬ 
beth to extinguish for ever the religion of their ancestors. 
He told them, “ that the power of endurance had arrived 
at its final limits, that an attempt for their liberation 


* This principle has since become an acknowledge! maxim, and com- 
onent part of the British constitution: yet was violated in Ireland by 
l r ilbam, the same prince through whose usurpation it was established. 


214 


RISE AND FALL 


though unsuccessful, could not even by its failure aggra* 
vate their miseries. That death would be the worst they 
could experience by battle, and that death was preferable 
to the slow tortures they were enduring, the famine undei 
which they languished, and the desolation of their families/ 1 

He impressed upon their heated minds, that “ their 
lands were overrun by foreign soldiers j their homes plun¬ 
dered or enjoyed by the butchering bands of an English 
female ; that their race of princes had become a family 
of slaves, and their clergy had been executed as the guil¬ 
tiest felons and he invoked them, “ in the name of their 
country, by the memory of their ancestors, and the holi¬ 
ness of their religion, to rise as one man, and liberate all 
from their tyrants.” Nor can an impartial reader of Irish 
and English history deny that there was great crimes in 
Elizabeth’s government, and much justice in Tyrone’s 
representations. 

The event was a general insurrection of the aboriginal 
natives, aided by a great number of the English settlers, 
who had become connected by affinity with the Irish 
chieftains. But in all such contests, a multitude of naked 
insurgents, without arms, without officers, without any 
discipline or much subordination, without any of the ne¬ 
cessary requisites, except courage and numbers, which 
could resist a trained and accoutred army, must naturally 
be defeated, and, if defeated, have seldom reason to ex¬ 
pect mercy from the conquerors ; such was the fate of 
Tyrone and his followers. 

VII. At the conclusion of these dreadful campaigns, 
though the Irish people had been diminished by nearly a 
moiety, and though the entire of Ulster, and a great pro¬ 
portion of the other provinces, were confiscated to her 
Majesty,* Elizabeth had not sated the voracity of her 
rancour. The chiefs had been reduced to beggary, the 
clergy had been executed, tb r people slaughtered, their 
towns destroyed, their castles razed ; yet still she felt that 
Ireland was not extinguished. Though under the weight 

* A circumstantial account of this most sanguinary insurrection was 
afterwards published under the immediate authority of the Qteen. 
Though the Pcccata Hibernia, as a history, cannot be an impartial one,, 
yet there is a species of horrid candour runs through the pages of that 
work winch gives it altogether strong claims to a partial authenticity. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


21 ft 


ol such an enormous pressure, the chiefs still breathed, 
but it v as the breath of vengeance. The clergy were re¬ 
cruited from inveterate sources; and even the very name 
of England and Reformation was rendered detestable by 
the savage cruelties of Elizabeth’s Reformers. 

Similar efforts of that determined and indefatigable 
Princess to crush the Irish people were renewed, resisted, 
and persevered in during her long reign. Ireland appear¬ 
ed to Elizabeth as a country of Hydras; every head she 
severed produced a number of new enemies: she slaugL 
tered and she burned, but she could not exterminate; 
and, at length, she expired, leaving Ireland to her suc¬ 
cessor, more depopulated, impoverished, desolated, igno¬ 
rant, and feeble, but in principle more inveterate and not 
more subdued , than the day on which she received its 
sceptre. 

YIII. James the First, unfortunately for his own fame, 
succeeded to so gaudy a reign as that of Elizabeth. A 
great proportion of his better qualities was thrown away 
upon the English Nation. Intoxicated by the renown 
and splendour of Elizabeth’s successes, they undervalued 
the advantages of tranquillity and of improvement. An 
English Qmeen of powerful talents, and a Scottish King 
of moderate capacity; a woman of undaunted fortitude, 
and a man of personal imbecility ; a proud, magnificent, 
and dignified female ; an awkward, shambling, unaffected 
Monarch, drew down the sarcasms of superficial ridicule 
upon one of the best reigns for the internal and prospec¬ 
tive happiness of the people. 

James’s system of government was as distinct as possible 
from that of his predecessor’s. While the reign of Eliza¬ 
beth abounded in wars abroad and despotism at home 
that of James was tranquillity every where ; the rudiments 
of civil liberty slowly and gradually advancing, at length 
became very visible in the results of his mild and pacific, 
though whimsical administration. But it was in Ireland 
that th = government of James was most remarkable and 
most J:rtunate; for the sword, the torture, the execu- 
tior.er, and desolation, he substituted improvement and 
well regulated justice. He sent not a Mountjoy nor a 
Carew to inllame and massacre; he sent Davies and Petty 
to investigate ana to instruct, to reform and tranquilize. 


216 


RISE AND FALL 


They sought to convince the natives, by examples and by 
reasoning, that their ancient laws and customs were less 
just than the laws of England; and by practising, as far 
as circumstances could admit, those principles of justice 
which they so earnestly recommended, gave the people 
the very best proofs of the integrity of their intentions. 

James had been taught, by experience, that loyalty to 
Monarchs never can be compulsory ; it is not loyalty it 
it be not principle , and it cannot be principle if it be not 
voluntary: past events in Scotland and in England had 
proved to James, that the loyalty of force is but the lucid 
interval of insurrection. He therefore sought to persuade 
not to subdue, his Irish subjects; and, to moderate their 
feelings, and to render them susceptible of persuasion, he 
thought it necessary to give them overt acts of his own 
moderation.* 

Himself a bigot of the first order, yet he knew how to 
make allowances for the same vice in others; he knew that 
religious persecution is the assassin of morality, and he 
substituted his pen for his sword to reform his subjects. 
Thus James, a most bigoted Protestant Monarch, by 
tranquillity and moderation, by wise measures and whole¬ 
some instruction, conciliated , and governed in peace and 
improvement, a nation of rude and exasperated Catholics , 
.still bleeding from the scourge and the sword of his pre¬ 
decessor ; and by that conduct James laid the basis of 
whatever civilization that country afterwards attained to. 

The reign of James amply demonstrates that Irish 
loyalty was fully commensurate with royal tolerance ; 
and that whilst plots against his life, and conspiracies 
against his throne, abounded in England, and debased the 
British character, a Catholic population in Ireland re¬ 
mained faithful to a bigoted Protestant of England; 
and by their conduct, during this reign, unequivocally dis¬ 
proved the charge of native disloyalty. Their advance- 

* It cannot be controverted that many acts of civil injustice were com¬ 
mitted by Chichester and other officers of James in Ireland, under coloui 
of the Commission of Escheats, and of defective titles whicii can only 
he palliated by a comparison with the reign he succeeded to, and the 
times he lived in; at all events the reign of James the first was the 
only truly ]eternal Government ever experienced by Ireland, from its hr* 
Annexation to the present day 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


217 


nittnt in civilization amply repayed both the people and 
the monarch; and it is deeply to be regretted, that ?ia 
government of England followed the same course, to 
tranquilize a country, whose turbulence has ever been a 
theme for their calumnies and their severity. 

However, Providence had decreed that, with the ex¬ 
ception of James the First, whether kings, or queens, or 
usurpeis, were the rulers of Great Britain, the same de¬ 
structive and desolating system should be adopted as to 
Ireland ; all nations, save her, had some intervals of tran¬ 
quillity ; she had none; and the more she suffered in the 
cause 01 royalty, the more she was branded with the 
charge oi disaffection. 

IX. W non Charles the First succeeded to the throne, 
the doctrines of Luther were yielding fast to new sects in 
England. The united standard of bigotry and of treason 
was no w Gevated by the Puritans far above the sphere of 
all former sectaries; and the British Constitution (such 
as it was ni those times) was, at once, demolished even to 
its foundation. Rebellion and hypocrisy inarched hand 
in hand triumphantly over its ruins; and the intolerance 
of Mary and of Elizabeth only changed its garb, but re¬ 
tained its principles, in the practice of Cromwell. 

The English Commons House of Parliament renounced 
its allegiance, cashiered the Lords, extinguished the epis¬ 
copacy, and dethroned their King. The English Rebels 
subdued him; the Scots betrayed him; conjointly they 
beheaded him ; but Ireland upheld him. She combated 
his murderers, and, as the reward of loyalty, she met the 
fate of Rebels.* The wrecks of Cromwell’s desolation 
still appear scattered over every part of.Ireland; blood 
that had escaped the massacres of Elizabeth was only 
reserved to flow under the sword of usurpation ; and 
Cromwell has the credit of having done his business more 
effectually than any of his predecessors. He cooped up 
the surviving Irish in a contracted district, confined the 
clergy nearly to one country, confiscated two thirds of 

* So great a hatre:1 did the English Parliamentarians entertain against 
the Irish Royalists, that they ordered “ No quarter to be given by their 
troops to Irish S; liters” This order was, for a short time, strictly ad¬ 
hered to; but Prince Rupert, on the King’s part, making retaliation, thia 
«*iOst sanguinary measure was quickly rescinded. 

19 


RISE AND FALL 


£15 

Irish territory, and stained his sanguinary career by mds®- 
criminate massacres in every fortress that resisted him. 

Never was any Rebel so triumphant as he was in Ire¬ 
land ; yet it is impossible to deny, that perhaps a less 
decisive or less cruel general than that splendid usurper, 
might, by lenity have increased the misery, in prolonging 
the warfare, and have lengthened out the sanguinary 
scenes of an unavailing resistance. But it is remarkable 
that Charles, the graceless son of the decapitated monarch, 
on his restoration, confirmed under his seal the confisca¬ 
tions against the Irish royalists , and actually regranted 
their estates and territories to the heirs and descendants 
cf his fathers murderers. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


219 


CHAPTER XIV 

Restoration of the Stuart dynasty—Usurpation of William — Ireland 
remained loyal—Comparison of the people—The revolutionary prin¬ 
ciple undefined—The Irish treated as rebels by William for their loy¬ 
alty to their King—Character of William the Third—Contiuued op¬ 
pression and malgoverr.ment of Ireland—The Scotch and English 
rebelled—Ireland remained tranquil—Comparison of the English and 
Irish as to their kings—Ireland first infected by the Scotch and English 
rebellions—Mr. Pitt suppressed the spirit of insurrection in England 
promptly—Suffered it to increase in Ireland. 

L Ireland had now been weary of bleeding and begging 
in the cause of legitimate monarchy; however, a new and 
not less ruinous opportunity soon occurred of again 
proving the loyalty, the perseverance, the fidelity, but the 
folly of the Irish people. 

The Puritans had got out of fashion, and tin; Stuarts 
had been restored to the British sceptre. Charles the 
Second, after a long and shameless reign, had by his death, 
ceased to disgrace the throne and stigmatize the nation; 
and England swore allegiance to his brother James, a 3 
her legitimate monarch , so did Ireland. His English 
subjects soon became disgusted with his administration, 
and privately negociated with a foreign prince to invade 
their country, and dethrone their king. Heedless of their 
obligation, they renounced their allegiance , recanted their 
oaths ; and, without a trial, drove James from his palace, 
and then proclaimed his throne empty, as if vacated by an 
act of voluntary abdication. 

At the head of his foreign guards, William, unequivo¬ 
cally an usurper, marched into the metropolis of Great 
Britain, seized on the throne, and occupied the royal 
palaces. The unnatural desertion of Mary and of Anne 
to the prince who had dethroned their parent, exhibited 
to the world (whatever might have been the political errors 
of their father) the' most disgusting example of filial in¬ 
gratitude, and nearly of parricide. 


220 


RISE AND FALL 


Ireland had not as yet learned those deep political 
refinements, the adoption of which now gives constitutional 
sanction to the principle of revolution. That great 
precedent was to come from England herself. Ireland 
experienced not, or at least had not felt, James’s attempts 
at despotism, which the English Commons had proclaimed 
to bo a forfeiture of his sceptre. 

The pretence of his voluntary abdication, on which 
England had proceeded to dethrone her king, had not 
extended its operation to Ireland, nor even been notified 
tc that people. On the contrary, James, a monarch de 
jure and de facto , expelled from one portion of his empire, 
threw himself for protection upon the faith and the 
loyalty of another; and Ireland did not shrink from 
affording that protection. She defended her legitimate 
monarch against the usurpation of a foreigner; and 
whilst a Dutch guard possessed themselves of the British 
capital, the Irish people remained firm and faithful to their 
king and fought against the invader. 

In strict matter of fact, therefore, England became a 
nation of decided rebels, and Ireland remained a country 
of decided royalists. Historic records leave that point 
beyond the power of refutation. 

At the period of James’s expulsion, even in England 
the right of popular resistance , and the deposition of a 
British monarch, by a simple vote of the Commons House 
of Parliament, though exemplified by Cromwell, had no 
acknowledged place in the existing constitution of the 
British empire. It was then an unsanctioned principle of 
political polity ; and though, in theory , according with the 
original nature and essence of the social compact between 
the governor and the governed , yet of the utmost difficulty 
in its constructions, and dangerous in its execution. Even 
now the quantity or quality of arbitrary acts and uncon¬ 
stitutional practices which may be deemed sufficient to 
put that revolutionary principle into operation, remains 
still undefined , and must, therefore, be a matter of con¬ 
flicting opinions, and of most dangerous investigation ; 
but it is an open argument. 

11. The representatives of the people in the Commons 
House of Parliament are incompetent solely to enact the 
most unimportant local statute; it is therefore not easy 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


3 Si 

*o designate the cause and crisis which may legally invest 
that one branch of the Legislature with a dispensing 
power as to the others, or enable it to erect itself into an 
arbitrary tribunal, to decide by its sole authority, questions 
of revolution.* 

As to James, this difficulty was exemplified. The 
British Commons, and the Irish people, both subjects of 
the same king, entirely differed in their opinions as to 
what acts, regal or despotic, could be construed into vol¬ 
untary abdication , a point of great importance as to 
subsequent events which took place in Ireland. 

III. James was the hereditary king of both countries, 
jointly and severally. The third constitutional estate, 
only of one of them (England), had deposed him by theii 
own simple vote : but Ireland had never been consulted 
upon that subject; and the deposition of the King of Ire¬ 
land by the Commons of England could have no para¬ 
mount authority in Ireland, or supersede the rights, and 
dispense with the loyalty , of the Irish Parliament. The 
Trish people had held no treasonable intercourse with 
William ; they knew him not; they only knew that be 
was a foreigner, and not their legal prince ; that he was 


* Though the English Commons House of Parliament had taken 
upon themselves to dethrone and decapitate Charles the First, on their 
own sole authority, it will scarcely be contended, that Bradshaw and 
Cromwell established any constitutional precedent for a similar proceed¬ 
ing. Yet the proceedings of the Commons, in James’s case, though 
more peaceable, were not more legal. 

The vacancy of the English throne, and consequently the deposition 
of James, was strongly con'ested and negatived by the House of Peers 
of England. The questions and divisions of the House of Lords were 
as follows,— 

For the election of a new king, 51 

Against the election of any king, 49 

Majority, ^ 2 

The next debate came more to the point —“ whether James had broken 
the original compact, and thereby made the throne vacant ?” 

This was negatived by a majority of 2. 

It thereiore appears, that the Irish people and the English Peers were 
of the same way of thinking. Even after James had quitted Ireland in 
despair, the Irish did not relinquish his cause, which was finally termi¬ 
nated by the gallant defence and ultimate capitulation of Limerick foi 
the whole of Ireland. 


12* 


222 


RISE AND FALL 


supported by a foreign power, and had succeeded by 
foreign mercenaries. But even if there was a doubt, 
they conceived that the most commendable conduct was 
that of preserving entire their allegiance to the King, to 
whom, in conjunction with England , they had sworn 
fealty. The British Peers had showed them an example, 
and on that principle they fought William as they had 
fought Cromwell: and again they bled, and again were 
ri :in 3d by their adherence to legitimate monarchy . Mas¬ 
sacre and confiscation again desolated their entire country, 
and they were treated by William as rebels to a throne 
which they had never sanctioned, and to an usurping 
prince whom they had always resisted ; at length, the 
contest ended, and Ireland finally submitted, not in the 
field , but by capitulation. 

The triumph of William over the Irish Royalists at the 
Boyne and at Aughrim, and the deceptions capitulation 
of Limerick, finally established William on the throne of 
both nations. Their results introduced into the theory 
of the British Constitution, certain principles of a regene¬ 
rating liberty , which have given it a solid and decided 
superiority over every other system of Government as 
yet devised by the wisdom of mankind; yet the advan¬ 
tages of that constitution which England has thus raised 
upon the loyalty , and completed upon the ruins of Ire¬ 
land, never were participated in by the Irish people. 

William, an able captain, a wise and prudent statesman, 
was yet a gloomy and discontented magistrate ; and had 
in his nature a portion of sulky despotic principle, which 
nothing but a consideration of the mode in which he had 
acquired the English crown could have restrained 01 
counteracted. But as to Ireland, the case was different. 
William had been invited into England, and he felt that 
she was his mistress ; but he had fought for Ireland, and 
he considered her as his vassal, and he adapted his gov¬ 
ernment to the relative situation in which he stood as to 
the two countries. 

The massacre of Mac John, his family and clan, in the 
valley of Glenco, perpetrated by the especial order of 
William, under his sign manual, has, in point of barba¬ 
rity, treachery and injustice, no parallel in the annals of 
Euroj\e. Its details cannot be read without exciting 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


223 


horror; and while it develops the cold-blooded nature of 
William’s character, it accounts for much of his conduct 
towards the Irish royalists, whom he called rebels, but 
who owed him no allegiance; so far as it bears upon the 
events of his reign in Ireland. 

The result of William’s usurpation, in the general es¬ 
tablishment of constitutional liberty in England, and the 
principles of popular revolution which his accession has 
sanctioned and confirmed, have rendered the memory 
of his reign glorious in that country. But little did he 
foresee his restraints and disappointments on the throne 
of England ; there he felt his arbitrary nature unexpect¬ 
edly curbed and chained down by the principles of that 
same liberty, which his own usurpation had originated : 
and mortified by the resistance he experienced in Great 
Britain, he lavished his redundant rancour on prostrate 
Ireland. But had William acted in Great Britain as he 
did in Ireland, he would have lost his throne, upon tho 
very same principles by which he acquired it, and have 
left his own short reign as an historic supplement to the 
deposition of his father-in-law. 

IV. For nearly a century after the capitulation of 
Limerick had been signed and violated by William, Ire¬ 
land exhibited a scene of oppression, suffering and pati¬ 
ence, which excited the wonder and commiseration of 
every people of Europe. The inveterate system of Bri¬ 
tish political and commercial policy invariably practised 
against her interests, excluded all hopes of progressive 
prosperity, and if it were possible, she must have entirely 
retrogaded to the iron age. But even during this state 
of depression, it was destined that Ireland should have 
new touchstones and trials to assay her nature; and 
again be placed in situations where her loyalty should be 
proved, and again found preponderating in the balance 
with the loyalty of Great Britain. 

In 1715, and in 1745, the British and Scotch people 
again forgot their oaths and their allegiance, and again 
revolted in favour of that very prince whom Ireland had 
been so ruined and stigmatized for defending against 
themselves,. 

The Stuarts again claimed the aid of Ireland. But 
Ireiand, in the interval, had sworn fealty to the House of 


224 


RISE AND PALL 


Brunswick; and Ireland, though groaning under slavery 
remained faithful to her obligation. Neither oppression 
no politics, nor religion , swayed her from the line of hei 
allegiance. The noblest blood of Scotland was poured 
upon the scaffold; the heads of Scottish Peers were 
elevated upon the gates of London ; Britons in crowds 
expiated their disloyalty hy the cord of the executioner ; 
the anger of offended Brunswick fell with desolating 
weight upon Great Britain; but through all those hloody 
scenes, English ingenuity could not find a single traitor 
to execute in Ireland. She preserved her loyalty and 
her oath, during two rebellions, but she gained neither 
favour nor character by that preservation; and her laud¬ 
able fidelity was only rewarded by new oppressions, and 
by the incessant calumnies of that same people who had 
seldom lost an opportunity of being themselves disloyal . 
Tranquil and submissive, though in absolute servitude, 
nearly one hundred years passed over Ireland. The great 
population of the Irish nation continued to be deprived of 
every attribute of liberty, civil, political and religious. 

A few of the Penal Acts then in force, or since enacted, 
against Catholics, were—“ By 7th William III,” no Pro¬ 
testant in Ireland was allowed to instruct any Papist. 
“By 8th of Anne” no Papist was allowed to instruct any 
other Papist. “By 7th William III” no Papist was 
permitted to be sent out of Ireland to receive instructions. 

By these statutes, as the great body of the Irish people 
were Roman Catholics, more than nine-tenths of the in¬ 
habitants of Ireland were legislatively prohibited from 
receiving any instruction whatever, either from a Pro¬ 
testant or a Catholic, either at home or abroad , or from 
going out of Ireland to be instructed ; consequently the 
darkest and most profound ignorance was enforced under 
the severest penalties in Ireland. How then can the Irish 
Catholics admire the memory of that prince who debased 
them to the level of brutes, that he might retain them in 
a state of slavery ? 

Even so late as the 12th George I. any Catholic clergy¬ 
man marrying a Protestant and Catholic was to be hanged. 
“By 7th George II” any barrister or attorney marrying 
a Catholic, to be disbarred. “ By 2nd Anne” Papist 
clergymen coming into Ireland, and performing religious 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


225 


exercises, to be hanged. “ By 8th Anne” Fifty pounds 
reVvArd for all informers against Catholic archbishops and 
vicars-general. 

But the most extraordinary of these Penal Statutes, is 
that of 7th William III. No Papist to ride any horse 
worth more than £5. And by 9 th George II. Papists 
residing in Ireland, shall make good to Protestants all 
losses sustained by the privateers of any Catholic king 
ravaging the coasts of Ireland. 

29th (leorge II. barristers and attorneys obliged to 
waive their privilege, and betray their clients, if Papists. 

Literally outlaws in their own country, labourers on 
their own territory, they quarried on their own demesnes, 
to raise palaces for the descendants of those canting 
hypocrites who had massacred their monarch, or of the 
foreign soldiers of that gloomy and ambitious prince, 
who had seduced away the loyalty of the children from 
their parents, and had occupied the throne of their banished 
father. 

V. If the future is to be judged by the past, it will 
probably continue to be alleged, that the adherence of 
Ireland to her kings has rather been the result of her 
religion than of her loyalty. That observation could not 
in any degree be applicable to any reign but that of James, 
an imputation, however, which in its true construction, 
general or especial, goes to assert, that a connection of 
loyalty and religion so cultivated and extolled in England 
under the title of “ Church and State,” was a crime of the 
most heinous culpability when found in Ireland. But when 
historic facts are resorted to, that charge is retorted ; and 
it will hardly be contended, that it was more loyal and 
meritorious for Protestant subjects to murder their Pro¬ 
testant king, as they did in England, than for Catholic 
subjects to defend their Catholic king, as they did in 
Ireland. And it will be as difficult to defend the rebel¬ 
lions of 1715 and 1745, raised by British Protestant 
subjects against their Protestant king, as it will be to 
calumniate the undeviating, unshaken loyalty of Catholic 
Ireland to her Protestant monarchs, and the House of 
Brunswick, during the same periods. But unfortunately 
these indisputable facts will form this miserable precedent 
for future ages, that in England the reward of rebellion 


226 


RISE AND FALL 


was liberty ; while in Ireland , the reward of loyalty 
was bondage. 

The Irish insurrection of 1798, which afforded to the 
British minister the fatal and 'premeditated pretext for 
annihilating the Irish legislature, differed but little in its 
ordinary events from those numerous civil wars, which 
the history of England, and of every nation, so liberally 
abound with; and more especially with those which 
desolated some of the finest countries of Europe about the 
same period, the contagion of which had been imported 
from England herself where the overthrow of the con¬ 
stitution had been planned, and the murder of the King 
attempted, before Ireland had been infected. 

But it was reserved for the recorders of that sanguinary 
contest in Ireland, with motives not less mischievous than 
those of the insurgents, to raise by their misrepresentation 
a permanent standard of enmity between the two nations, 
and endeavour to persuade one portion of the empire, that 
its safety was altogether incompatible with the indepen¬ 
dence and prosperity of the other. 

Were the leading authors of these absurd and dangerous 
doctrines, confined solely to the hired traducers or fac- 
tionists of that country, their histories and their fabrica¬ 
tions would sink, together with their names, into obscurity. 
But when persons of the superior orders in Great Britain 
lent their weight, their zeal, and their reason to the pur¬ 
poses of their bigotry and their prejudices, and attempted 
to impose upon the credulity of their countrymen with the 
same facility that they had been imposed upon themselves, 
as to the native disloyalty of the Irish people, it becomes 
just, if not necessary, to recall their recollection to 
the affairs and records of their own country at the 
same epoch : a reference to which, if it cannot check the 
fanaticism, may at least diminish the authority of the 
fanatics. 

Though in fact a digression, it may be here not improper 
to follow up that subject a little further, by anticipating 
some observations more connected with a subsequent part 
of this memoir. 

VI. When it pleased Heaven, during the French Revo¬ 
lution, to inflict a temporary derangement on the reason 
uf mankind, a spirit of wild democracy, under the mask 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


227 


of liberty, appeared in fanciful forms to seduce away or 
destroy the peace, the morality, the order, and the alle¬ 
giance of every European people. It would have been 
more than a phenomenon, if too sensitive and ardent 
Ireland had escaped that general fever, from which the 
boasted constitution of England, and the steady character 
of Scotland, had been unable to protect them. The Ca¬ 
tholic in the South, the Presbyter in the North, the Pro¬ 
testant in the metropolis of Ireland, and the professors of 
every religion in England and in Scotland, became more 
or less infuriated by the general delirium. That conta¬ 
gion which so vitally affected the nations of Europe, 
originating in France, soon displayed its symptoms in 
every part of Great Britain; and when in progress to 
full maturity, and not before , was carried into Ireland by 
collision with the English and Scots republicans* 

Religion could have but little influence on the projects 
*md politics of that era, for the total extinction of all 
religion was a fundamental principle of that foreign revo¬ 
lution, which gave birth to a democracy that sought to 
overturn every throne and constitution of Europe. Yet 
the calumniators of Ireland place that spirit of insurrec¬ 
tion almost exclusively to the credit of religion amongst 
the Irish people, because the population of Ireland, was 
chiefly composed of Catholics whom they stigmatized. 

At that period, Ireland had a resident Legislature and 
a free constitution. She was in profound tranquillity, and 
the most progressive state of national prosperity,! when 

* See the state trials and the reports of the Secret Committee of Eng¬ 
land, in the year 1794. 

By these reports of the Secret Committee, it appears that Edinburgh, 
and various other places in England and Scotland, were infected long 
b< lore Ireland; and Mr. Secretary Dun das Illustrated these reports by 
annexing accurate drawings ol the different forms of pikes, battle-axes, 
&c., which were fabricated in Scotland, his own country, for the pur¬ 
poses of treason and murder. Ireland did not appear to Mr. Pitt forward 
enough in treason with the kingdom under his more immediate manag e¬ 
ment, and therefore sent over Lord Fitzwilliam to Ireland, to ensure tran¬ 
quillity: and when his Lordship was on the point of doing so, ordered 
him back again to excite insurrection. —See Lord Fitzwilliam’s letters to 
Lord Carlisle. 

f When Lord Westmoreland was removed from Ireland, in 1795, Ire¬ 
land was in a most unexampled and progressive state of general prosper- 
ty. In that year, Mr. Curran informed the Author of his intention 6? 


>2S 


RISE AND FALL 


the emissaries :>f the English and Scotch societies quiv k a 
proceeded to pervert her reason, as their own had been 
perverted, The original societies of Ireland had no such 
principles as designated the latter ones. The Minister, 
Mr. Pitt, had made his entrance into public life in the 
domino of a Reformer. The first and most loyal noble¬ 
men, and commoners in Ireland were Reformers; but it 
was through the prospective policy of that great Minister, 
that the seeds of insurrection were permitted to take root 
in Ireland: without it a union had never been accom¬ 
plished. 

VII. In England, the Government took prompt and 
vigorous measures to stop the progress of that dangerous 
and destructive principle ; but in Ireland they coolly saw 
the weed springing up, and artfully forced it to premature 
maturity. They watched its growth till it had covered 
sufficient of the country to bewilder the residue. Its vege¬ 
tation was cautiously permitted to proceed, whilst there 
remained within their own reach sufficient means of sup¬ 
pressing it at their discretion; and this deep’ and trea¬ 
cherous experiment was risked to effect the greatest object 
of Mr. Pitt’s administration, a final extinguishment of 
Irish independence. 

With that view, it was expedient to suffer that country 
to plunge itself into a state of sanguinary civil warfare, 
of terrors and of animosities; whilst England should hold 
the reigns which could check its progress, and might falla¬ 
ciously induce it, by the hopes of English protection, to 
exchange a constitutional independence for a speculative 
tranquillity, or render it so feeble and so divided by a 

suggest an impeachment against the Earl of Westmoreland, for having: 
permitted a part of 12,000 troops (which, according to stipulation, should 
always remain in Ireland) to be drafted out of that kingdom for foreign 
service 

Mr. Curran laughed at his own project, when the Author asked him 
what plausible reason he could give for saying that any troops were 
necessary. 

The day Lord Westmoreland departed, no army was necessary in Ire¬ 
land ; and if Earl Fitzwilliam had not been removed, doubtless insurrec¬ 
tion might have been prevented. But tranquillity would not have effect¬ 
ed Mr. Pitt's purposes: and Earl Fitzwilliam, one of the best and honest- 
eet of the British peerage, was appointed, duped, and deposed by thff 
$nhcy of the Minister; the reason was obvious 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 229 

continuation of internal contests, that it could not be se¬ 
duced, it might compelled, to annexation. 

Ana here lies the secret spring which regulated the 
insurrection of 1798, and the machinery which moved the 
Union in 1800, a measure which, for the thirty-two years 
succeeding its accomplishment, has only operated as a 
ruin to the annexed, and a torment to the annexing nation. 
Recorded abstracts of Irish and of British history thus 
form an incontrovertible exposition of Irish principles, 
and of English misconception. The character of the Irish 
people has been always calumniated, their independence 
has been torn away, but their indigenous loyalty is un¬ 
affected, their nation is monarchical, they naturally love 
kings, the tradition of their old monarchs keeps up the 
attachment; and never was a greater injustice done to 
any people, than to call them democratic. But immortality 
of power is not an attribute of nations, like man, they 
tlourish ; but like man, they must decay. Rome had her 
glory and her power, but, subdued by time, she yielded 
up her empire ; and should some Gibbon of future ages 
record the decline and fall of British greatness, the his¬ 
torian will probably do justice to Ireland; and tell pos¬ 
terity, that when some gigantic foreign power, nurtured 
by British folly, for British subjugation, had paralyzed 
her resources, and decolonized her empire, England, in the 
last struggles of her superiority, had not a faithful ally 
left to cover her remains, but her calumniated* sister. 

* This observation will not be considered altogether visionary, when 
men reflect upon the modern events of Europe, and the possible conse¬ 
quences of that extravagant and ruinous system which had been adopt¬ 
ed, of blindly subsidizing and strengthening every foreign power at the 
expense of the British treasury. Russia, Prussia, Austria, Portugal; 
but above all, Spain, owe their present independent political existence 
to the blood and the treasure of Great Britain and of Ireland, levied foi 
their use, and lavished for their protection. 

And miserably is England requited for her protection, her money, and 
hex sacrifices, and miserably has Ireland been requited for her participa* 
tion 


90 


*30 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER XV. 

Chtholic relaxation Bills opposed by Mr. Rowley—Sir Edward Newen- 
enham—Doctor Patrick Duigenam—His Character—Mr. Ogle—Bills 
passed—Unjust doctrine—Change in the Irish Parliament—Mr. Fox’s 
candour—-His speech—Deception of the British Government devel¬ 
oped— Marquis of Rockingham—Total absence of energy — Mi 
Burke—Inactive as to Ireland—New debates—Embarrassing conse¬ 
quences of Mr. Grattan’s address—Mr. Grattan’s motion objectionable 
—Mr. Flood’s reply—Unfortunate collision of Grattan and Flood— 
Mr. Giattan’s fallacious motion—Mr. Flood’s reply—Mr. Montgo¬ 
mery moves to build an Irish navy—Negatived—Parliament pro¬ 
rogued—Most important session—Moderation of Ireland—Duke of 
l ortland's hypocritical speech 

1. We now return to the measures which were taken to 
rock Ireland into a slumber more fatal to her existence 
than the trance she had awakened from. Bills to ameli¬ 
orate by partial concession the depressed state of the 
Catholics, as some reward for their zeal and patriotism, 
weis introduced, and had arrived at their last stages in 
the House of Commons without any effective opposition; 
intolerance, however, even to the extent of fanaticism, had 
so identified itself with the minds of some members of 
both Houses of Parliament, that these Bills of partial 
relief to their enslaved countrymen were strenuously op¬ 
posed, in their latter stages, by statements so exaggerated, 
and language so aggravating, that a cry of “ Danger to 
Church and State!” was raised and circulated, and ac¬ 
tually bewildered the intellect of many, who were on 
other occasions of reasonable judgment. 

These Bills were clamorously opposed in Parliament 
by several country gentlemen of high local consideration, 
and principally by Mr. Rowley, member for Meath County, 
one of the best landlords and best men in Ireland, a 
dow liright, honest, headstrong country gentleman. His 
information was scant, and his abilities were less than 
modeiate; but he was of large fortune, splendid establish- 
men'’? unbounded hospitality, and full of philanthropy; 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


231 


yet so perverted was his mind by legendary tales, and 
hereditary prejudices, that though he most generously 
afforded to his Catholic tenantry, and to individual Catho¬ 
lics, every service and kindness in his power, he consi¬ 
dered and represented them, collectively , as a body of 
demons; their chapels, temples of idolatry; their schools, 
seminaries of rebellion, and their clergy as a gang of 
necromancers. 

So infatuated was he by these prepossessions, that he 
saw, or rather fancied that he saw, in any relaxation of 
the penal statutes, nothing but a total overthrow of the 
entire Protestant establishment, and an immediate revo¬ 
lution in favour of some Popish monarch. 

Those Bills were also pertinaciously opposed by Sir 
Edward Newenham, member for Dublin County, a weak, 
busy, narrow-minded, but not ill informed, nor ill-inten¬ 
tioned person. He was very defective in talent, but very 
confident that he possessed much of it; he fancied he was 
a great patriot, and was disposed to imagine himself a 
distinguished personage. He had drawn General Wash¬ 
ington into a short literary correspondence with himself 
as to Ireland, on the strength of which, he affected, with 
great importance, to be an importer of the most early and 
authentic information from America. 

He was an active officer of the Volunteer Artillery, and 
a good Irishman; but a busy, buzzing, useless, intermed¬ 
dling member of Parliament, and one of the most credu¬ 
lous, feeble, and fanatical of all the Irish intolerants. 

Many inveterate opponents of any concessions to ihe 
Catholics made their appearance in the Irish Parliament; 
and as the concerns of that body must form a prominent 
topic in the progress of this memoir, it may be interesting 
and useful to introduce, even by anticipation, the most 
distinguished of its opponents. 

This celebrated antagonist of the Irish Catholics, so 
far as invective and declamation could affect their interests, 
was Doctor Patrick Duigenam, Judge of the Prerogative 
Court of Ire 1 and; a man whose name must survive so 
long as the feuds of Ireland shall be remembered, and 
whose singular conduct, on many points, was of a nature 
so inconsistent and irregular that, even now, when hrs 
race is run, and no further traits of his character can ever 


832 


RISE AND FALL 


be developed, it is yet impossible to decide with certainty 
as to his genuine principles, if such he possessed, upon 
any one subject, religious or political. 

His father was parish-clerk of St. Werburgh’s Church. 
Dublin, but in what part of Ireland he originated, is still 
uncertain ; he was educated in the Parish School, and (as 
he told the Author himself) was humourously christened 
Paddy , having been born on St. Patrick’s day. He sig¬ 
nalized himself as a scholar in the University of Dublin, 
of which he was chosen a fellow; he soon afterwards 
quarrelled with the Provost, Mr. Hutchinson, and every 
person who did not coincide with his humours, and wrote 
a number of severe pamphlets, of which “ Lachrymoe 
Academicoe ” and “ Pranceriana” are the most notable: 
the first, personally against the conduct of the Provost 
and Sir Sohn Blaquiere; the second, on a proposal of the 
Provost’s to establish a riding house for the students. 
He was always at open war with some person, during the 
whole course of his public life. 

He left the University, retaining the office of Law Pro¬ 
fessor ; was shortly afterwards appointed King’s Counsel; 
Judge of the Prerogative and Consistory Courts; King’s 
Advocate to the High Court of Admiralty; one of Lord 
Cast lereagh’s Commissioners for bribing Members of 
Parliament; (Post;) and to many other public offices, 
most of which he retained to his death. His income was 
very large, and he must have privately done many liberal 
a nd charitable acts, because he was not extravagant, and 
left no considerable fortune behind him. 

Dr. Duigenam having been King’s Advocate to the 
High Court of Admiralty, where the Author presided ; 
and the Author being a Doctor of Laws, and Advocate in 
the Court of Prerogative, of which Dr. Duigenam was 
Judge, their intercourse was constant and very intimate 
for many years, and the Author had daily private oppor¬ 
tunities of observing the curious habits of this most eccen¬ 
tric character ; the most outrageous, and at the same 
time one of the best natured men in the world, to those 
whom he regarded. 

This eccentric person, whose celebrity originated from 
his crusades for Protestant supremacy, would probably 
have been a conspicuous character in whatever station he 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


233 


might have been placed, or in whatevei profession he 
might have adopted. Incapable of moderation upon any 
subject, he possessed too much vigorous and active in¬ 
tellect to have passed through life an unsignalized spec* 
talor; and if he had not at an early period enlisted as a 
champion of Luther, it is more than probable he would, 
with equal zeal and courage, have borne the standard for 
St. Peter’s followers. A hot, rough, intrepid, obstinate 
mind, strengthened by very considerable erudition, and 
armed by a memory of the most extraordinary retention, 
contributed their attributes equally to his pen, and his 
speeches. 

He considered invective as the first, detail as the second, 
and decorum as the last quality of a public orator; and 
he never failed to exemplify these principles. 

A partisan in his very nature, every act of his life was 
influenced by invincible prepossessions ; a strong guard 
of inveterate prejudices were sure, on all subjects, to keep 
moderation at a distance, and occasionally prevented even 
common reason from obtruding on his dogmas, or inter¬ 
rupting his speeches. 

A mingled strain of boisterous invective, unlimited 
assertion, rhapsody and reasoning, erudition and ignorance, 
were alike perceptible in his writings and orations; yet 
there were few of either, from which a dispassionate com¬ 
piler might not have selected ample materials for an able 
production. 

He persuaded himself that he was a true fanatic; but 
though the world gave him full credit for his practical 
intolerance, there were many exceptions to the consis¬ 
tency of his professions, and many who doubted bis theo¬ 
retic sincerity. His intolerance was too outrageous to be 
honest, and too unreasonable to be sincere; and whenever 
his Protestant extravagance appeared to have even one 
moment of a lucid interval, it was immediately predicted 
that he would die a Catholic. 

His politics could not be termed either uniform or co¬ 
herent. He had a latent spark of independent spirit in 
his composition, which the minister sometimes found it 
difficult to extinguish, and dangerous to explode. He had 
the same respect for a Protestant bishop that he would 
probably have had for a Catholic cardinal. Episconacy 

20 * 


834 


RISE AND FALL 


was his standard; and when he showed symptoms of run 
ning restive to the Government, the primate of Ireland 
was called in to be the pacificator. 

He held a multiplicity of public offices at the same 
time, unconnected with Government.* He was Vicar 
General to most of the bishops ; and whenever he con¬ 
ceived the rights of the Church were threatened, his 
bristles instantly arose, as it were, by instinct; his tusks 
were bared fgr combat ; he moved forward for battle; 
and would have shown no more mercy to the Govern¬ 
ment than he would have done to the patriots. 

He injured the reputation of Protestant ascendency by 
his extravagant support of the most untenable of its prin¬ 
ciples. He served the Catholics by the excess of his ca¬ 
lumnies, and aided their claims to amelioration, by per¬ 
sonifying that virulent sectarian intolerance which was 
the very subject of their grievances. 

He had, however, other traits, which frequently dis¬ 
closed qualities of a very superior description. His tongue 
and his actions were constantly at variance; he was hos¬ 
pitable and surly; sour and beneficent; prejudiced and 
liberal; friendly and inveterate. His bad qualities he ex¬ 
posed without reserve to the public; his good ones he 
husbanded for private intercourse. Many of the former 
were fictitious ; all the latter were natural. He Was an 
honest man, with an outrageous temper and perverted 
judgment; and, as if he conceived that right was wrong, 
he sedulously endeavoured to conceal his philanthropy 
under the garb of a misanthrope. 

In private society, he was often the first in conviviality; 
and when his memory, his classic reading, and his mis- 

* On the Union, he accepted the office of Commissioner for paying the 
bribes to Members of Parliament (under the name of compensation foi 
the loss of their Seats or Patronage.) (Vide Post.) 

The Doctor, the late Lord Annesley, and a Mr. Jameson, an English¬ 
man, under this commission, distributed, by Lord Castlereagh’s appoint¬ 
ment, one million five hundred THOUSAND pounds of the Irish money, 
amongst Members of the Houses of Lords and Commons; without 
which bribes and gifts of peerages, there would be a vast majority 
against the Union. The Doctor told the Author that he accepted thai 
office, solely that he might be able to take care of the bishops; and the 
Author believes at least half his assertion. But the L : shops were out. 
witted. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


235 


eeiianeous mfoimation were turned to the purposes of 
humour or of anecdote, they gave a quaint, joyous, sc* 
centric cast to his conversation, highly entertaining to 
strangers, and still more so to those accustomed to the 
display of his versatilities. 

The most striking singularity of this most singular 
man, was his unaccountable inconsistency in words and 
actions toward the Catholic community. He alternately 
fostered and abused, caressed and calumniated, many in¬ 
timates of that persuasion ; an inconsistency, however, 
which his last matrimonial connection was supposed to 
have redeemed; and he died at a very advanced age, 
upon a short notice, retaining all his strength and facul¬ 
ties, and in the full vigour of all his prejudices. 

His strong, sturdy person, and coarse, obstinate, dog¬ 
matic, intelligent countenance, indicated many of his 
characteristic qualities. He was too rough and too un¬ 
accommodating to have had many partisans ; and after 
the Union which he vigorously supported, his public im¬ 
portance and reputation dwindled away to nothing ; and 
liis death afforded no great cause of regret to his friends, 
or of gratification to his enemies. 

Mr. George Ogle, and many other decided opponents 
of the Catholic claims, were also prominent characters in 
the general affairs and politics of the country, and will 
appear in most of the miscellaneous transactions of the 
Irish Parliament. But the whole bent and efforts of the 
Doctor’s mind and actions were concentrated and publicly 
arrayed against the Catholic community, some members of 
which were in private his chief associates, and his nearest 
connections, and the early introduction of such a personage 
may tend, to illustrate the singular situation of that body, 
and that inconsistency which from first to last has sig¬ 
nalized the conduct both of their friends and their 
enemies. 

Those Bills relaxing the severity of the penal code 
passed, however, through both Houses, without any con¬ 
siderable difficulty ; and, though the concessions were 
very limited, they afforded great satisfaction to the Ca¬ 
tholic body, as the first growth of a tolerating principle, 
which they vainly imagined was a sure precursor of that 
general religious and political freedom, without which, in 


236 


RISE AND FALL 


an ardent and divided population, peace and security 
must ever be precarious. 

Some men, however, saw in those incipient concessions 
the germ of discord and extravagant expectation. The 
most unrelenting of their opponents, in the full zeal of 
unqualified fanaticism, used arguments so cruel and un¬ 
just in principle, that the distorted mind, or crooked pol¬ 
icy of legislators alone could have resorted to. 

They argued, that the nearly insupportable oppressions 
under which the Irish Catholics had so long laboured, 
were rapidly disgusting them with their own tenets, 
which had entailed upon them all the attributes of slav¬ 
ery and deprivation; that, worn down by penal codes, 
under the pressure of which they could neither rise nor 
prosper, they were daily recanting those disqualifying 
tenets, and embracing that religion, under which their 
wants and their ambition could be fully gratified ; that 
noblemen, gentlemen, peasants, and even their priests, 
were rapidly embracing the Protestant profession ; and 
that if the same propensity to recantation was still kept 
in progress, by a full and strict continuance of that same 
penal code, the severity of which had originally caused it, 
Ireland would gradually acquire a protestant population, 
if not a majority of the people, at least more than a pro¬ 
portion of all whose property, rank, and interest would 
lead them to preserve the peace of the nation and the 
connection with Great Britain. 

II. This was a barbarous doctrine, which could never 
be supported by any principle either of justice or of policy. 
The principle of concession which actuated the Parlia¬ 
ment in these relaxations, proved that the light of justice 
and reason had broken in upon them, and excited reason¬ 
able expectations of further grants and general toleration. 

The wealth of the Catholics multiplied, their numbers 
increased. The first chain of intolerance was loosened, 
and permitted them to take a view of that total emanci¬ 
pation which by unremitting struggles they were certain 
of attaining. 

III. The paroxysms of ardent patriotism having some¬ 
what abated in the Irish Parliament, distinctions and 
shades of distinctions were rising and re-opening into 
party, and into jealousies. Some men conceived that 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


237 


Ireland had obtained every thing, others argued that she 
had acquired no securities, that enthusiastic unanimity 
which had so proudly signalized their first movements 
was gradually degenerating, the old courtiers, who had 
wandered from their standards, seized greedily upon every 
pretence to re-assume their stations ; and many of that 
body, who a moment before had been unanimous, and 
supposed to be incorruptible, now began to remember 
themselves, and forget their country; but the people were 
staunch, their spirit was invincible, the voice of the volun¬ 
teers was raised it was loud and clear, and echoed through 
the Parliament. The Government was arrested in its 
corrupting progress; many were recalled to a sense of 
duty by a sense of danger, and the situation of the coun¬ 
try seemed approaching to another crisis. 

Mr. Grattan acted on the purest patriotic principles, 
but they were over moderated by Earl Charlemont, and 
occasionally neutralized by an honourable confidence in 
Whig sincerity. He still contended (because such was 
his conviction) that the Irish Nation should rest satisfied, 
and confide in the sincerity of the British Ministry, and 
the existing guarantees, for the permanence of their con¬ 
stitution. He was devoted to the Whigs, because they 
professed the purest principles of well-regulated liberty; 
and he would not doubt the integrity of those whose prin¬ 
ciples he had adopted, till at length Mr. Fox himself, 
wearied by a protracted course of slow deception, uncon¬ 
genial either to the proud impetuosity of his great mind, 
or the natural feelings of his open temper, at once con¬ 
firmed the opinions of the Irish people, and openly pro¬ 
claimed to Ireland the inadequacy of all the measures that 
had theretofore been adopted. He took occasion in the 
British Parliament, on the repeal of the sixth of George 
the First, being there alluded to, to state, “ that the repeal 
of that Statute could not stand alone , but must be accom¬ 
panied by a final adjustment, and by a solid basis of per¬ 
manent connection.” He said “that some plans of that 
nature would be laid before the Irish Parliament by the 
Irish Ministers, and a treaty entered upon, which treaty , 
when proceeded on, might be adopted by both Parlia¬ 
ments and finally become an irrevocable arrangement 
between the two countries.” 


238 


RISE AND FALL 


By that short, but most important speech, the Irish 
delusion of a final adjustment was in a moment dissipated, 
the Viceroy’s duplicity became indisputably proved; His 
Majesty’s reply to the Irish Parliament was renounced by 
the very minister who had written it. The Irish address 
to the Duke of Portland appeared to have been premature 
and inconsiderate; and his reply could no longer be 
defended on the grounds either of its truth or its sin¬ 
cerity. Mr. Fox himself, with the true candour of an able 
statesman, avowed the insufficiency of the existing arrange¬ 
ment ; and thus, by easy inferences, decided against the 
adequacy of the simple repeal for general purposes. His 
declaration, that “ a further treaty was in contemplation,” 
Avas prospective and ambiguous, and gave not only plau¬ 
sible but justifiable grounds, for an alarming uneasiness 
amongst the Irish people. 

Notwithstanding this avowal, Mr. Flood was still but 
feebly supported in the House of Commons. The Volun¬ 
teers, rather than the Parliament, had now the prepon¬ 
derance in public estimation, and their activity increased 
as difficulties augmented. 

In England public matters were sinking into a state of 
languor and torpidity. The Marquis of Rockingham, in a 
fatally declining state of health, and his friend Lord Char- 
lemont, in an habitually complaining one, carried on a 
well-bred, superficial, whining correspondence, as to the 
affairs of Ireland, every thing that was courteous, but 
nothing that was statesmanlike; and even if death had not 
unfortunately for the Whigs," snatched away Lord Rock¬ 
ingham, he and the Earl of Charlemont were not likely 
to effect the consummation of the political arrangements 
between the two nations. The latter nobleman could see 
wide, but he could not see deep. The former could 
neither see very wide, nor very deep, but he could see 
very distinctly; in cultivating moderation, they lost sight 
of energy, and their conduct at this moment was shallow 
and insipid. 

Mr. Burke might have been sincere towards Ireland; 
but he had a game to play at for himself; and his talents, 
however great in their extent, were not found so consistent 
in their application. And though his fame never can be 
eclipsed, his abil’des never depreciated; though his 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


239 


lessons will be ever instructive, and the vigour of his 
intellect could not be vanquished, still he had his trances, 
his visions, and his theories; and though always in the 
first line of general admiration, he stood not in the front 
rank of public confidence. He took no distinguished part 
in those transactions, appearing as if he were repugnant 
to commit himself in an imperfect treaty. 

Whilst affairs remained in this precarious state, a debate 
occurred, more embarrassing than any that had preceded 
it, and which gave new features to the close of this, the 
most remarkable session of Irish Parliaments. 

IV. The question of simple repeal had now been so 
often canvassed, so often argued, and had caught so strong 
a hold of the Irish people, that it was obvious it could not 
rest where it was, and that something further must be done 
to satisfy the Irish Nation; but what that something 
should be, was more embarrassing to the Government of 
both countries than any consideration which had thereto¬ 
fore occurred to them. 

After the address of the Irish Commons to his Majesty, 
moved by Mr. Grattan, England could not be again so 
strongly applied to for further concession. She had 
promptly acceded to every thing that was then required of 
her, and was told by that address, that nothing remained 
further to be done as to a constitution between the two 
countries; she might, therefore, plausibly decline further 
demands upon the same subject. That address had in 
plain language, renounced all further constitutional claims 
by the Irish Parliament; and Mr. Grattan could not recede 
from such his own reiterated declarations. Mr. Flood, 
however, remained unshaken and firm in his opinion of 
the insufficiency of the arrangement, and determined to 
increase their security, through an unequivocal act of the 
Irish Legislature; and oh the twenty-ninth day of July, 
he moved for leave to bring in a Bill, “ to affirm the 
sole exclusive right of the Irish Parliament to make laws 
affecting that country, in all concerns external and inter¬ 
nal whatsoever.” 

A most animated, and even virulent debate, took place 
on that motion. It was debated with great ability, but ill- 
placed confidence or ill-timed mof nation still guided the 


RISE AND FALL 


240 

majority of tin Commons; and even ihe introduction oi 
the Bill was negatived without a division. 

Mr. Grattan heated by the language of his rival, blinded 
by an unlimited confidence in the integrity of the Whig 
Ministry, and for a moment losing sight of the first prin¬ 
ciple of constitutional liberty, then proposed a motion, 
equally singular for the language of its exordium, and the 
extravagance of its matter. He moved, “ that the Legis¬ 
lature of Ireland was independent; and that any person 
who should propagate in writing, or otherwise, an opinion 
that any right whatsoever, whether external or internal, 
existed in any other Parliament, or could be revived , was 
inimical to both kingdoms.” 

The ingenuity of man could scarcely have formed a 
more objectionable precedent or dangerous resolution. It 
was too great an opportunity not to be taken immediate 
advantage of by Mr. Flood; his reply was equally severe 
and able; he represented the resolution as u placing 
Ireland in a state of tyranny worse than Russia ; prohi¬ 
biting both the Lords and Commons of Ireland, under a 
denunciation of being enemies to their country, from the 
common rights of every British citizen, to discuss the same 
constitutional question which bad been so often before, and 
was at that very moment, debating in the House of Parlia¬ 
ment, depriving every Irish subject of his natural liberty, 
either of speech or of writing: a proscription against 
all who differed with the honourable gentleman on a vital 
question respecting his own country, or who should pre¬ 
sume to publish or even to whisper that difference, a 
resolution which would be scoffed at in Ireland, ridiculed 
in Great Britain, and be contemptible in both, a resolu¬ 
tion which could have no operation as a law, no justifi¬ 
cation as a principle, and which could have no character 
to support it, but those of folly and of tyranny.” He 
therefore moved an adjournment. The tide, however, 
flowed too strong against Mr. Flood personally. It was 
the great object of the Government to conquer him first, 
and then neutralize his adversary; and even those who 
were determined to negative Mr. Grattan’s motion, also 
determined to negative the motion of adjournment, be¬ 
cause it was Mr. Flood’s; and a considerable majority 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


241 


decided against it.* Mr. Grattan then proposed another 
declaratory resolution, stretching away from the real facts 
as to any political application of those that existed, but 
unaccompanied by most of the former objections; and, at 
all events, leaving both his own and Mr. Flood’s principles 
nearly where it found them at the commencement of ibe 
altercation. Mr. Grattan moved, that leave was “ refused 
to bring in the (Mr. Flood’s) Bill, because the sole and 
exclusive right to legislate for Ireland in all cases what¬ 
soever, internally and externally, had been asserted by 
the Parliament of Ireland, and had been fully, finally, and 
irrevocably acknowledged by the British Parliament.” 

This resolution obviously stated some facts which did 
not exist. No final irrevocable acknowledgment ever 
had been made by the British Parliament. On the con¬ 
trary, acts had been done, and declarations made by the 
Minister himself, that a future treaty would be necessary 
to render the arrangement full, final, or irrevocable. 

Mr. Flood saw the weak point, and he possessed himself 
ot it. He altered his language, became satiric, and ridi¬ 
culed the. resolution as the “ innocent child of fiction and 
of fancy.” He congratulated Mr. Grattan on changing 
his tone, and declared “ that he would willingly leave him 
Mi the full enjoyment of this new production of his lively 
imagination.” Mr. Grattan’s motion then passed without 
further observation, and the House adjourned. 

V. No further proceedings of importance took place 
in the House of Commons during the session, except two 
motions of Mr. Montgomery, of Cavan County, for leave 
to bring in a Bill to build Irish men of war for the pro¬ 
tection of the trade of Ireland. This motion appeared too 

* The division was ninety-nine to thirteen against Mr. Flood’s motion, 
though the whole House saw clearly that Mr. Grattan’s resolution coaid 
not possibly pass; yet so strong was the opposition to any thing pro¬ 
posed by Mr. Flood, that an adjournment was rejected. This debate, sc 
near the termination of the session, appeared at first very disagreeable; 
but in the event it had great effect; and the embarrassments which Mr. 
Grattan’s resolution, if carried , must necessarily have created, was a very 
strong ingredient amongst those considerations which induced the British 
Parliament voluntarily to pass an Act of Renunciation, which Mi. 
Grattan had thought unnecessary, before the Irish Parliament could me*f 
again to discuss the subject, when the accumulating dissatisfaction of the 
nation m ght have given rise to more distracting measures. 


242 


RISE AND FALL 


distinct, and was of course negatived. He also moved 
for an address to the King, to reinstate Mr. Flood in his 
office of Yice Treasurer, from which he had been dis¬ 
missed for supporting his country. This would have been 
just, but it was not eligible. Mr. Fitzpatrick received it 
in civility, but it was also negatived, as encroaching on 
the prerogative; and on the 27th of July, the Duke of 
Portland prorogued the Parliament, with a speech detail¬ 
ing all the advantages Ireland had received undei his 
paternal administration ; and thus ended the public trans¬ 
actions of his Grace the Duke of Portland’s first vice¬ 
royalty to the Irish nation. 

YI. This session of the Irish Parliament was the most 
interesting and important its history records; important, 
not to Ireland only, but to the best interests of Great 
Britain ; illustrative of the first and finest principles of 
civil liberty; and a lecture on the rights and foundations 
of rights, ,by the establishment of which alone the inde¬ 
pendence of nations can be attainable, or, being attained, 
preserved. It displayed a scene of loyalty and of for¬ 
bearance in the Irish nation, unequalled in the history of 
any armed people. It proved the possibility of an irre¬ 
sistible democratic power, roused without commotion; 
the entire population of an extensive country converted 
into a disciplined and independent army, to assert its 
liberties, yet, in the pursuit oi that most animating of all 
objects, preserving perfect peace and substantial loyalty. 
It showed an independent and patriotic army, able in one 
day to crush or to drive every relic of usurpation from 
its shores for ever, with a moderation almost incredible; 
accepting, as a kind concession, those natural rights which 
t had the power of commanding; and, with a liberal and 
generous confidence, peculiar to its character, honourably, 
but fatally, insisting on no further guarantee for her con¬ 
stitution, than the faith of a government which had never 
before omitted an opportunity of deceiving her. 

The Duke of Portland’s proroguing speech to the Irish 
Parliament, July 27, 1782, is in itself the most unsophis¬ 
ticated tissue of hypocrisy on record, totally unparalleled 
in the history of the British Empire, or of any Minister 
who regarded either the law of nations, or the character 
of the sovereign. It w as emphatically delivered by a 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


243 


Viceroy, who, a few years afterwards, in 1800, in his 
place in Parliament, unblushingly declared, that he never 
considered the treaty between England and Ireland (con¬ 
summated by himself) as final. His Grace’s speech, 
addressed, in the name of the King, to the assembled 
Peers and Commons of Ireland, oji the prorogation of that 
Parliament, is of the greatest importance, as connected 
with the events of 1799 and 1800; and when that speech 
is compared with a subsequent speech of the same noble¬ 
man in the Peers of England, not only an Irish subject, 
but even a disinterested citizen of the world, would draw 
conclusions in no way favourable to his Grace’s political 
integrity. It was, however a useful lesson to all people, 
to trust their statesmen just so far and so long as their 
interest or their party called for their consistence. His 
Grace was pleased to speak as follows: 

“ The great and constitutional advantages you have 
secured to your country, and the wise and magnanimous 
conduct of Great Britain, in contributing to the success of 
your steady and temperate exertions, call for my congra¬ 
tulations, on the close of a session which must ever reflect 
the highest honour on the national character of both 
kingdoms. 

“ It must be a most pleasing consideration to you, to 
recollect, that in the advances you made towards the 
settlement of your constitution, no acts of violence or 
impatience have marked their progress. A religious 
adherence to the laws, confined your endeavours within 
the strictest bounds of loyalty and good order; your claims 
were directed by the same spirit that gave rise and sta¬ 
bility to the liberty of Great Britain, and could not fail ot 
success, as soon as the councils of that kingdom were 
influenced by the avowed friends of the constitution. 

“Many, and great national objects, must present them 
selves to your consideration during the recess from par¬ 
liamentary business ; but what I would most earnestly 
press upon you, as that on which your domestic peace 
and happiness, and the prosperity of the Empire at this 
moment, most immediately depend, is to cultivate and 
diffuse those sentiments of affection and confidence which 
are now happily restored between the two kingdoms; 
convince the people in your several districts, as you are 


844 


RISE AND PALL 


yourselves convinced, that every cause of past jealousies 
and discontents is finally removed ; that both countries 
have pledged their good faith to each other, and that their 
best security will be an inviolable adherence to that coni' 
pact; that the implicit reliance which Great Britain has 
reposed on the honour, generosity, and candour of Ireland, 
engages your national character to a return of sentiments 
equally liberal and enlarged; convince them that the two 
kingdoms are now one , indissolubly connected in unity of 
constitution , and unity of interests ; and that the danger 
and security, the prosperity and calamity of the one, must 
equally affect the other, that they must stand and fall 
together.” 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


245 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Insufficiency oi Mr. Grattan’s measures—Death of the Marquis ol 
Rockingham and its consequences—Earl Temple Lord Lieutenant— 
Mr. Grenville Secretary—His Character—Lord Temple—Not unpop¬ 
ular—Mr. Cony a principal instrument of Lord Temple—Proceedings 
of the Volunteers—Strong resolutions to oppose English Laws—Bad 
effects of the dissension between Grattan and Flood—Sir George 
Young—Effect of Sir George Young’s speech—Lord Mansfield’s con¬ 
duct accounted for—Consequence of these speeches—British Parlia¬ 
ment belie their own Act—Lord Abingdon denies the King’s right to 
pass the Bill—England by Statute admitted her usurpation, and relin¬ 
quished for ever her right to legislate for Ireland—Renunciation Act 
—Mr. Grattan still perversely opposes Mr. Flood—The renunciation 
Act confirmed Mr. Flood’s doctrine. 

I. Bills to carry into effect the concessions of England 
had been passed th> 'ugh the British Parliament with un¬ 
usual expedition. Tne sixth of George the First, decla¬ 
ratory of the dependence of Ireland, had been repealed; 
and the arbitrary dictum of Blackstone, that favourite 
Druid of modern Britain, had been abandoned by his 
countrymen. But it quickly became obvious, that though 
Mr. Grattan’s declaration of grievances had left to the Irish 
Parliament a certain latitude for reclaiming their consti¬ 
tutional rights in detail, he had not foreseen to what lengths 
those details might extend, or the danger of attempting 
to conclude on narrow discussions on that intricate subject. 
His address to the King now appeared to have so con¬ 
tracted in its tenor the claims which the declaration of 
grievances, if not specifically, had virtually alluded to, 
that many of the most important of Irish constitutional 
rights had been thereby altogether passed over; and con¬ 
cessions of England had been accepted of, without those 
guarantees which the invariable practices and principles 
of British government therefore, rendered absolutely in¬ 
dispensable to the permanence and security of Irish 
independence. 

Had the constitutional arrangement been complete and 

21 * 


246 


RISE AND FALL 


final, and the concessions of Great Britain as sincere a*, 
they appeared to be liberal, and without any view to 
ulterior revocation, never would two nations have been 
placed in an attitude more powerful and imposing, or 
pregnant with happier consequences to the interests and 
prosperity of both; they would have been firmly united 
by indissoluble ties, and bound to each other by a Gordian 
knot, which nothing but the scythe of time could have 
divided. But unfortunately, England was not sincere. 
Her cabinet remained mentally intolerant; and Ireland, 
after ten years of unexampled prosperity, was again des¬ 
tined to future miseries, equally unforeseen and unmerited. 

It was for a moment supposed that commercial jealou¬ 
sies towards Ireland, those eternal enemies to every thing 
generous or cordial, had been at least partially excluded 
from British councils, to make room for a more just, liberal, 
and enlightened policy. Had it been so, the interests of 
both nations would have found their common level in 
their mutual prosperity; the moral and physical powers 
of both would have been invigorated and embarked in the 
same cause, attracting and consolidating their united 
strength into one impenetrable mass, which would have 
defied all the enmities, the machinations, and the powers 
of united Europe. 

Arrangements of such a nature, founded on so strong 
and broad a basis, might have been durable as the ancient 
towers of Ireland, of which even tradition cannot trace 
the origin, but which neither time nor the elements have 
as yet had the power to dilapidate. Ireland was disposed, 
for a time, to be contented with her Parliament: sus¬ 
picion is not one of her characteristic feelings ; she looked 
at every object through the sunny medium of her own 
bright and warm generosity, and threw herself at once 
into the arms of her sister country. She did not, or she 
would not, till forced by its glare upon her vision, see the 
false and fatal artifices by which her independence was 
surrounded. She disdained to suspect those on whom 
she had already lavished a noble confidence; and she 
fancied she beheld all her better fortunes circling, like a 
glory, round the brow of her new-born freedom. 

A phenomenon so novel and captivating, absorbed foi 
a time the reflection of the people, and concealed from 


OF TIIE IRISH NATION. 


247 


them that treacherous reservation, which subsequent events 
have proved to have then lurked behind the faithless, but 
specious language of the yielding country. 

However, the matter was suddenly brought to a decisive 
issue. After a lingering indisposition, the Marquis of 
Rockingham the only link which bound the Whig ministry 
together, ceased to exist. This loss was irreparable, the 
cabinet became incomplete, and could not be recruited; 
its members suspected each other, and the nation suspected 
them, and, but a short period had elapsed, when the most 
unnatural and corrupt ministerial coalition in the annals 
of British Government, between Mr. Fox and Lord North, 
justified the suspicions of both the people and the parties, 
and taught Ireland what she might expect from the con¬ 
sistency of British Ministers. 

II. A temporary confusion was the consequence of the 
Marquis of Rockingham’s death. However, an entire 
new ministry was formed, and public affairs in England 
appeared to be acquiring at least a semblance of some 
stability. 

In Ireland, the scene entirely changed. The Marquis 
of Rockingham no more, the administration of England 
remodelled without being improved; and Earl Temple 
sent over to supersede the Duke of Portland, and to take 
his chance of governing and tranquilizing the Irish peo¬ 
ple, as circumstances might warrant 

His Excellency was accompanied to Ireland by his 
brother, Mr. (now Lord) Grenville, in the office of Chief 
Secretary; a person not adapted to the habits of that 
people, the temper of the times, or the circumstances of 
the country; a proud English gentleman, deficient in that 
modulation and flexibility of character so useful to a 
minister, at times when he cannot control, and so pecu¬ 
liarly serviceable at all periods to the temporary rulers of 
the Irish nation ; and as he and his family assumed a 
leading part, eighteen years afterwards, in the suppression 
of that constitution which he then came over professedly 
to complete, it becomes necessary to allude to some of 
those public qualities which have distinguished that per¬ 
sonage in his political capacities on both occasions. 

Mr. Grenville had improved by unremitting assiduity, 
whatever talents nature had entrusted him with : and so 


248 


RISE AND FALL 


far as they could be extended, he worked them up into 
very considerable reputation, and never failed to exeicise 
them with firmness, though not always with discretion, 
and occasionally with inconsistency. 

He commenced his public course in an Irish office, and 
he pursued it till he arrived at the British Cabinet. In 
both he was efficient; but in the first he was mistaken, 
and in the latter he was overrated. Too unbending for 
the crown, and too aristocratic for the people, he sought 
influence from both, without attaching himself to either ; 
and like the coffin of Mahomet, he was suspended be¬ 
tween attraction. The popularity of the man was cir¬ 
cumscribed by the austerity of the courtier; and the am¬ 
bition of the courtier, counteracted by the inflexibility of 
the statesman. His powers were inferior to domination, 
but his pride superior to subserviency; his party therefore 
have been placed ir a long abeyance, but which certainly 
could not be well justified, either by the policy of the 
state, or by the gratitude of the ruler. 

The Viceroy, though a grander person was a very in¬ 
ferior statesman. He was a man of business ; not less 
proud, yet rather more accessible than his brother, and 
would have worked his way better had he been aided by 
a more elastic secretary. They both mistook their course ; 
they began where they should have concluded ; and 
acted upon the vain idea of diverting away the attention 
of an ardent people from an animating object, by the 
novel purity of pecuniary retrenchments. On this erro¬ 
neous principle, they passed over more important con¬ 
cerns, and proceeded to the detection of official pecula¬ 
tions with unprecedented activity; they even sacrificed to 
this delusive, and comparatively frivolous object, one of 
the highest officers, and one of the most extensive politi¬ 
cal connections in Ireland. Earl Temple and his brothei 
thus setting to work steadily, as men of business, laboured 
to gain a confidence amongst the people by financial re 
forms, before they had established a foundation for de 
serving it by constitutional services. 

III. However, few acts of the first Temple administra 
lion gave the Irish nation any important grounds for com 
plaint or for suspicion. Every day discovered and ex¬ 
posed some new official delinquency, and every day 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


249 


brought its dismissals or its punishments. In other 
times, and under other circumstances, this meritorious 
exertion would have had its full weight, and received 
adequate approbation ; hut that moment was not an or¬ 
dinary one ; a financial reform was but a secondary ob¬ 
ject, and was soon considered rather as an interruption 
to the view of constitutional arrangement, and leading 
away the attention of the nation from great measures, by 
thos^ nf comparatively unimportant consequence. This 
sy stem failed in all its objects ; the nation saw and de¬ 
spised the principle, they were not in a humour to relish 
naked financial arrangements, the idea of national inde¬ 
dependence had filled their minds, and popular tranquil¬ 
lity should have preceded financial retrenchment, then it 
would have been grateful, now it was contemptible. 

The Viceroy, however, persevered in his official refor¬ 
mations ; and though he obtained no credit from the body 
of the people, he appeared to make considerable progress 
amongst the aristocracy of the patriots. 

Amongst those whom Lord Temple selected to aid him 
in this plausible reformation of public abuses, was a 
person, who, from that period, continued an active and on 
some occasions, a distinguished member of the Irish Par¬ 
liament. On the question of an Union, he made himself 
particularly remarkable, and had nearly ended his mortal 
career in supporting the minister. 

Mr. Isaac Corry, the son of an eminent merchant in 
No wry, had been elected representative in Parliament for 
his native town, and commenced his public life under the 
patronage of that dignified Irishman, Mr. John O’Neil, 
with great advantages. His figure and address were 
those of a gentleman, rather graceful and prepossessing ; 
and though not regularly educated, he was not badly in¬ 
formed. He was a man of business, and a man of plea¬ 
sure ; he had glided over the surface of general politics, 
arid collected the idioms of superficial literature; he pos¬ 
sessed about a third rate public ialent; his class of elo¬ 
cution in Parliament was sometimes useful and always 
agreeable, but on momentous subjects he was not efficient. 
In facing great questions, he frequently shrunk back, in 
facing great men, ne was sufficiently assuming. His 
public principles were naturally patriotic; but his interest 


250 


RISE AND FALL 


lost no time in adapting them to his purposes. He sought 
to acquire the character of an accomplished financier, but 
he was totally unequal to the mazes of financial specula¬ 
tion, and there he altogether failed. His private habits 
and qualities were friendly and engaging, his public ones 
as correct as his interest would admit of. 

As a reward for his fidelity to the Irish Minister of 
1799, he succeeded in the first object of his life, the sup¬ 
planting of Sir John Parnell in the Chancellorship of the 
Irish Exchequer. But it added little to his emolument, 
and nothing to his reputation. He wrangled through 
the Irish Union as a ministerial partisan, and exposed 
himself as a financier in the Imperial Parliament. His 
influence was neutralized when he lost his country, his 
pride was extinguished when he lost his office, and he 
was defeated at Newry, in which he thought himself es¬ 
tablished. Like others of his repenting countrymen, he 
withdrew from public life, upon the purchase of his in¬ 
tegrity, regretting past scenes, and disgusted with the 
passing ones. He lingered out his latter days in an in¬ 
glorious retirement, the prey of chagrin, and the victim 
of unimportance. As a private friend, it is impossible 
but to regret him; as a public character he has left but 
little of celebrity. 

Lord Charlemont and Mr. Grattan, dazzled by specious 
appearances, placed much confidence in, and formed some¬ 
what of a political connection with the new Lord Lieute¬ 
nant. But they soon found that it had become impera¬ 
tively necessary to change the tone of their representa¬ 
tions to Government; and during the recess of Parlia¬ 
ment, they adopted language very different from and 
much stronger than that which they had conceived to be 
sufficient during the last administration. The interval 
between the prorogation and the meeting of a new Par¬ 
liament, comprised a period of great importance in Irish 
history, and merits considerable attention, as bearing 
strongly on the subsequent transactions which extin¬ 
guished its constitution. 

IV. The armed Volunteers had now assumed a delib¬ 
erative capacity. Political subjects became topics of 
regular organized discussion in every district of Ireland, 
And amongst every class and description of its population. 



1. Lord* Mwarden. 4. Lord tormroh'/s 
Z.Secretary Cooler. 5. John FhMpot thrroti. 
!!. Bishop of Bowl . 6. Arthur O'Connor. 

/. Rob fit Emmett. 












OF THE IRISH NATION. 


251 


They paraded as soldiers, and they debated as citizens; 
and L>ut few days passed over, in which they did not 
exercise in both capacities. More than 150,000 Volun¬ 
teers now appeared upon their regimental muster-rolls: 
prepared to join their standards the moment their country 
demanded their exertions; an army so constituted must 
have been strong, an army so animated must have been 
invincible. 

The Catholics now became also practically active in 
the same cause, considerable bodies of that body now took 
up arms, formed regiments in several districts, and placed 
themselves entirely under the command and control of 
their Protestant officers and fellow subjects. All was 
unanimity in the armed bodies; but a general discontent 
and suspicion, as to the conduct of Great Britain, appeared 
in rapid progress, and proceedings more than usually 
alarming were occurring every moment throughout the 
whole nation. 

Many collateral and important constitutional points 
now 1 successively appeared to have been omitted in the 
claim of rights; and many remained unaffected by the 
repeal of the English statute, but which sooner or later 
must necessarily give rise to new and great collisions. 
The debates of the last session inconclusive in their results, 
had, without remedying thes£ difficulties, inflamed the 
people; and a new paroxysm of discontent actually seized 
upon the entire population. The Volunteers, however ' 
soon placed the matter beyond all doubt or argument; 
they again entered into decisive resolutions, no longer to 
obey, or suffer to be obeyed, any statute or law theretofore 
enacted in England, and to oppose their execution with 
their lives and fortunes.* The magistrates refused to 
art under them, the judges were greatly embarrassed, no 
legal causes could be proceeded on, under the authority 
of the British statutes,! though naming Ireland, no counsel 

* A few resolutions of the Volunteer corps will serve to show the 
spirit and temper of the whole; the most important will be detailed ir 
the Appendix. 

f Resolutions, County of Monaghan. “ We, the High Sheriff, 
Foreman, and Grand Jury of the County of Monaghan, assembled, Lc-n* 
Assizes, 1782 : 

“ Thinking it now peculiarly necessary to declare our sentiments re¬ 
lucting the fundamental and undoubted rights of this nation, we do 


252 


RISE AND FALL 


would plead them, no juries would find for them ihe 
operation of many important laws, theretofore in force, 
was necessarily suspended ; and matters seemed verging 
towards great perplexity. The general dissatisfaction 
made rapid progress, assumed a more decisive attitude, 
and every discreet person became alarmed for the con¬ 
sequences. 

The discussion and arrangement of those numerous 
constitutional and legal difficulties, though complicated 
and irritating, appeared absolutely indispensable. It 
became impossible longer to support the terms of the 
address to his Majesty, or to argue that “all constitutional 
questions between the two nations were at an end for 
over; ” the fact was practically negatived, and ail reasoning 
on the sufficiency of the simple repeal, daily lost its weight 
amongst the people. 

V. Whilst these important subjects were in agitation, 
and many men’s opinions remained undecided in Ireland, 
the conduct of the British Parliament and of the British 
Ministry justly confirmed all the suspicions which had 
been entertained as to the sincerity of Great Britain. 

unanimously declare, that we will, in every situation of life, and with 
all the means in our power, assert and maintain the constitutional rights 
of this kingdom, to he governed by such laws only as are enacted by the 
King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, and that we will in every in¬ 
stance, uniformly and strenuously oppose the execution of any statutes, 
except such as derive authority from said Parliament, pledging ourselves 
to our country, and to each other, to support, with our lives and fortunes, 
this our solemn declaration ; and further, we bind ourselves, that we will 
yearly renew this necessary vindication of our rights, until such time as 
they shall be explicitly acknowledged, and firmly established. 

“ Thomas Corry, Sheriff, 

“ Samuel Madden, Foreman, and Fellows.” 
Resolution 3 entered into by the Corps of Dublin Volunteers, on Friday, 
the 1st of March, 1782, His Grace the Duke of Leinster in the 
Chair. 

“ Resolved, That Great Britain and Ireland are, and ought to be, in¬ 
separably connected, by being under the dominion of the same King, and 
pnjoying equal liberty, and similar constitutions. 

“ That the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland only, are competent 
to make laws, binding the subjects of this realm; and that we will not 
obey or give operation to any laws, save only those enacted by the King, 
Lords, and Commons of Ireland, whose rights and privileges, jointly and 
severally, we are determined to support with our lives and fortunes.” 

“ Signed (by order), John Williams, Sec.” 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


253 


Every day during the session of Parliament discord had 
been augmenting: Mr. Flood was frequently victorious in 
the argument; but Mr. Grattan was always victorious in 
the majority. Their contests were, at first moderate: but 
at length, discretion was abandoned on both sides and 
gave way to altercations, abounding in eloquence, but toe 
personal and too acrimonious to be recorded in these 
memoirs. 

• This violent difference of opinion between those two 
great men, of course communicated its effects, more or 
less, amongst all their supporters, and became injurious to 
the general cause of the country. Mr. Grattan firmly 
believed that he was right; and he would not recede. His 
pertinacity formed a rallying station for some of the old 
courtiers, who hated both men, but Mr. Flood most, and 
gave them a pretence for their re-embodying against the 
country. Strong parties in Parliament had assailed Mr. 
Flood, he stood at bay, and no local statesman ever 
showed more talent, more judgment, more constitutional 
knowledge, and effective firmness, than he did in this 
memorable contest. 

This divided state of the Irish nation was exactly what 
the Ministry were desirous to bring about. It somewhat 
discredited all the Irish parties, gave breathing time to 
the British Cabinet; and if disunion had extended itself 
materially to the people, it would have given the Govern¬ 
ment an opportunity of making arrangements entirely 
conformable to their own objects. This dividing system 
however, became entirely defeated by the injudicious 
conduct of some Members of the British Parliament, 
who could not restrain their chagrin at concessions which 
they disapproved of; but carried by their zeal beyond 
their discretion, their injudicious conduct united parties in 
Ireland, as against a common enemy. 

Events now rapidly succeeded each other, to impress 
the Irish nation with a thorough conviction that they had 
to deal with a Government, from whom, neither political 
sincerity nor cordial concession could be further expected. 

VI. Sii George Young, a member of the British Par¬ 
liament, neither a native nor a resident of Ireland, had 
been placed in the office of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, as 


22 


254 


RISE AND FALL 


a sinecure reward for his Parliamentary support of the 

British Government. 

It was an office during pleasure only; and therefore 
no person holding that office could act contrary to the 
desire of the Government which appointed him. Yet so 
circumstanced, Sir George Young, in his place in Parlia¬ 
ment, did oppose the Bills of Concession to Ireland, and 
the repeal of 6th George I. which had been brought in by 
the British Ministers themselves: he also protested against 
the po wer of passing such Bills by the English Parliament, 
and disclaimed the power of the King himself to relin¬ 
quish the inherent rights of the British Legislature to 
legislate for Ireland. 

No person, therefore, could suppose, that Sir George 
Young, a dependent placeman, and partisan of the British 
Ministers, durst have so acted, or have ostensibly opposea 
the King and his Government , without the express desire 
or implied concurrence of the Ministers themselves. 

The effect of such a speech, by such a person, at such 
a moment, was almost electrical; but a much weightier 
authority against the independence of Ireland soon suc¬ 
ceeded it. Lord Mansfield (though one of the greatest, 
was an arbitrary, and, in some points, one of the most 
mischievous judges that ever sat upon the English Dench,) 
notwithstanding the repeal of the 6th of George the First 
by the British Parliament, proceeded to entertain, in the 
Court of King’s Bench, at Westminster, an Appeal from 
the Court of King’s Bench of Ireland; observing, that 
“ he knew of no law depriving the British Court of its 
vested jurisdiction.” 

The interest of money in England was only five per 
cent., in Ireland it was six; and Lord Mansfield had 
placed very large sums on Irish mortgages, to gain the 
additional one per cent. His Lordship well knew that 
such Irish investments were, in their nature, a trouble¬ 
some species of security; but that they were not likely 
to gain any additional facilities by the appellant’s juris¬ 
diction being taken from the British Courts and transferred 
to Ireland herself: hence his Lordship’s reluctance to part 
with it. 

These considerations were not concealed by his Lord 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


255 


Bhip. He was forced however to yield to circumstances; 
but he never did it with a good grace. 

VII. The effect of this proceeding was sufficiently 
alarming; but another exciting circumstance immediately 
took place, of still higher order. The English Parliament 
passed an Act, regulating the importation of sugars from 
St. Domingo to all His Majesty’s dominions in Europe. 
Ireland was a part of His Majesty’s dominions in Europe; 
and this statute was construed as of course embracing 
Ireland, and thereby constituting an act of external legis¬ 
lation over Irish concerns, by the King of England, and 
Parliament of Great Britain, without the concurrence of 
the Irish legislature. This, however, was rather a refine¬ 
ment of construction ; but the conduct of Lord Abingdon, 
in the British Lords, rendered all further confidence in 
the state of the arrangement between the two countries, 
as it then stood, totally inadmissible: it was too explicit 
to be mistaken. 

Lord Abingdon, equally adverse to the rights of Ireland, 
followed, in the House of Peers, the example of Sir George 
Young in the House of Commons; and totally denying 
the authority of the King and the Parliament of England 
to emancipate Ireland, he moved for leave to bring in a 
declaratory Bill to re-assert the right of England to legis¬ 
late externally in the concerns of Ireland. This remarka¬ 
ble Bill stated, “ that the Kings of England being masters 
of the British Seas for eighteen centuries, and the Wes¬ 
tern Sea, which surrounded Ireland, belonging to the Kings 
of England, the British Parliament had the sole right to 
make laws to regulate the commerce of Ireland, &c.” 

It was impossible now for the Irish nation longer to re¬ 
main silent. The aggregate of all these circumstances 
went clearly to a simultaneous attack upon the new inde¬ 
pendence of Ireland, and a decisive proof of what might 
occur when Great Britain acquired sufficient vigour to 
re-assert, with any prospect of enforcing, her supremacy. 

Lord Abingdon’s attempt was candid and direct, and, 
above all others, alarmed the Irish people. The Volun¬ 
teers beat to arms throughout the whole kingdom; above 
120,000 paraded. The Volunteers March was played by 
every band, and sung "by every voice the war hymn of Ire* 
land. All confidence in the sincerity of the British Minis- 


256 


RISE AND FALL 


try, its Cabinet, its Officers, its Parliament, was dissipated } 
and there were not wanting persons who believed and dis¬ 
seminated their opinion, that the rights of Ireland were 
actually, betrayed. The danger and confusion of the times 
hourly increased; Mr. Flood preserved his firmness and 
his dignity, and gained much ground amongst the people. 
The repeal of the 6th George I. could no longer be urged 
by Mr. Grattan as a guarantee; the sincerity of England 
could no longer be relied upon ; the people began to act 
for themselves; and the Anglo Irish Government was 
driven back to its old practices, and endeavoured, by every 
means within its power to diminish the number and over¬ 
whelming weight of their Parliamentary opponents. But 
the Volunteers were in line; the people cried to arms; the 
British Cabinet now trembled for the consequences of 
their own duplicity; yet they had neither honour to relin¬ 
quish their system, nor courage to support it: they reluc¬ 
tantly perceived it was totally inoperative; and at length 
became sensible to the imminent dangers of their own 
situation. They felt the impossibility of either evasion or 
resistance; and early in the ensuing Session the British 
Ministry and the British Parliament, without any stimu¬ 
lating debate, and without waiting for further and peremp¬ 
tory remonstrances from Ireland, passed the most impor¬ 
tant statute that ever had been enacted as to the affairs of 
[reland, a statute unequivocally and explicitly renouncing 
ail future right to legislate for Ireland, They thereby 
appeared to have abrogated for ever that principle of 
legislative usurpation which they had for so many ages 
pertinaciously and unjustly exercised. 

Anno vicessimo tertio. 

GEORGII III REGIS. 

Chap. XXVIII. An act for removing and preventing 
all doubts which have arisen, or might arise, concerning 
the exclusive Rights of the Parliament and Courts of 
Ireland, in matters of legislation and judicature; and for 
preventing any writ of error or appeal from any of His 
Majesty’s Courts in that kingdom from being received, 
heard, and adjudged in any of His Majesty’s Courts in the 
Kingdom of Great Britain. Whereas, by an Act of the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


257 


.ast Session of this present Parliament, (intituled An Act 
to repeal an Act, made in the Sixth Year of the Reign of 
his Late Majesty King George the First, intituled An 
Act for the better securing the Dependency of the King¬ 
dom of Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain,) it was 
enacted, that the said last mentioned Act, and all matters 
and things therein contained, should be repealed: And 
whereas, doubts have arisen whether the provisions of the 
said Act are sufficient to secure to the people of Ireland 
the Rights claimed by them, to be bound only by laws 
enacted by His Majesty and the Parliament of that King¬ 
dom, in all cases whatever, and to have all actions and 
suits at law, or in equity, which may be instituted in that 
Kingdom, decided in His Majesty’s Courts therein finally, 
and without apppeal from thence. Therefore, for removing 
all doubts respecting the same, may it please your Majesty 
that it may be declared and enacted, and be it declared 
and enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual 
and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament 
assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said 
right claimed by the people of Ireland , to be bound only 
by laws enacted by His Majesty and the Parliament of 
that Kingdom, in all cases whatever, and to have all actions 
and suits at law or in equity, which may be instituted in 
that Kingdom, decided in His Majesty’s Courts therein 
finally, and without appeal from thence, shall be, and it 
is hereby declared* to be established and ascertained for 
ever , and shall , at no time hereafter be questioned or 
questionable. 

2nd. And be it further enacted, by the authority afore¬ 
said, that no writ of error or appeal shall be received or 
adjudged, or any other proceeding be had by or in any of 
His Majesty’s Courts in this Kingdom, in any action or 
suit at law or in equity, instituted in any of His Majesty’s 
Courts in the Kingdom of Ireland ; and that all such 
writs, appeals, or proceedings shall be, and they are 
hereby declared null and void to all intents and purposes ; 
and that all records, transcripts of records, or proceedings, 
which have been transmitted from Ireland to Great Bri¬ 
tain, by virtue of any writ of error or appeal, and upon 
which no judgment has been given or decree pronounced, 
22 * 


058 


RISE AND FALL 


before the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-two, shall, upon application made by or in 
behalf of the party in whose favour judgment was given, 
or decree pronounced in Ireland, be delivered to such 
party, or any person by him authorised to apply for and 
receive the same. 

VII. This most important measure was brought into 
the British House of Commons by Mr. Townshend, passed 
through both Houses, and received the Royal assent 
without debate and with very little observation. In Eng¬ 
land it was cautiously held out neither in the light of a 
new concession to Ireland, nor of a relinquishment of any 
then existing supremacy of Great Britain; but as a con¬ 
sequential declaratory part of a general constitutional 
arrangement entered into between the two nations. 

In Ireland it was represented as not presuming to create 
a new, but merely to define a pre-existing constitution. 
These were wise constructions, and in these points of 
view gave no alarm nor jealousy to either country; while 
it seemed to consummate the desires and objects of the 
Irish nation. England had now surrendered all the 
interests and concerns, constitutional and commercial, ex¬ 
ternal and internal, which Ireland claimed, into the hands 
and guardianship of her own legislature. To many, this 
great and finishing concession appeared a conclusive, 
magnanimous, and sapient measure of the British Min¬ 
istry. Irish freedom appeared complete; her indepen¬ 
dence as a nation legislatively acknowledged for ever. 
The great outline of her constitution appeared to have 
been drawn irrevocably, the possibility of reassumption 
was regarded as chimerical, and nothing but commercial 
arrangements remained to be adjusted by the mutual good 
will, and according to the reciprocal interests of the two 
nations. For a moment, general happiness, great cor¬ 
diality, and invincible strength, seemed to be in store for 
the British Empire, as the result and reward of this wise 
and honourable confederacy of two independent nations. 
A union of powers and of interests more dignified, sub¬ 
stantial, and invigorating to a people, and more ennobling 
to an empire, never had existed. And it is grievous to 
contrast that moment of pride and strength with the de¬ 
solating measure which in eighteen years afterw rids 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


259 


sacrificed the pledged honour and good faith of one 
nation, to annihilate the independence and paralyze the 
prosperity of another.* 

VIII. This legislative renunciation of British supre¬ 
macy, however, appeared to some in a different point of 
view. Mr. Grattan, and many persons of great talent, 
considered that statute rather a confirmation than a re¬ 
linquishment of British supremacy, and still adhered more 
strongly to the adequacy of simple repeal in preference 
to such a renunciation; and many considered that it did 
not go far enough. The arguments on both sides were 
carried on with great warmth and pertinacity; and the 
doubtful security of Irish independence was debated upon 
the construction of that very statute which was enacted 
to confirm it. 

This Act of Renunciation, however, appeared to have 
a conclusive operation. It was conceived by many, that 
nothing further was necessary to be done, but such as the 
Irish Parliament was now in itself competent to enact. 
But though the measure tended to give a strong confidence 
in the good intentions of the British Parliament, it came 
too late to satisfy the Irish people as to the purity of their 
own. On the contrary, it convinced them of either its 
inefficiency or its corruption, or the Renunciation Act of 
the British Parliament would have been totally unne¬ 
cessary. Mr. Flood’s argument now appeared not only 
triumphant in Ireland, but fully acknowledged, and legis¬ 
latively acted upon, even by Great Britain herself. The 
unfortunate opposition in the Irish Commons, and the 
still more unfortunate majorities of that House, which had 
scouted doctrines and measures thus subsequently admitted 
to be just and necessary, by the voluntary acts of England 
hefseif, made a deep impression on the Volunteers of 
Ireland. 

It was true they had acquired their liberties, they 
had gained their independence; but they still had to 
secure it. The Renunciation Act of England had dis¬ 
credited the Irish Parliament with the Irish people. But 
it had its apology. It had been so long enfeebled and 
corrupted, so long within the iron trammels of usurpation, 

* A full experience of thirty-two years has proved unanswerably the 
truth oi this observation. 


260 


RISE AND FALL 


that the chain had become habitual, and therefore it wai 
more to be dreaded that its broken links might be rivetted 
anew, and Ireland, in lapse of time, sink again under the 
same power which had originally enslaved it. The Irish 
Declaration of Rights had been one of those sudden events 
which ages might not again produce; it was the power¬ 
ful struggle of an enslaved'people, and the irresistible 
energy of an extraordinary man, uniting to command the 
acquiescence of a corrupt legislature. 

Without the people, the Parliament would have been 
neutralized; and without the man, the people would have 
been unsupported: and it was indisputable, that whilst 
the work remained as yet unfinished, the Irish Parliament 
had slackened in its duties, and relapsed into its old 
habits of a corrupt and indolent confidence, contrary to 
every principle of prudence and foresight, and the opinion 
of the nation : the Irish people, therefore, as they gave 
credit to the British Parliament for voluntarily conceding 
what their own Parliament had refused, naturally lost 
all confidence in the future conduct and purity of their 
own legislature ; a suspicion but too j istly founded, and 
which has given rise to consequences deeply interesting 
to the fate of that country. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


261 


CHAPTER XVII 

Lord Charlemont’s courtly propensities—-Comparison of Grattan and 
Flood —Consequences of their jealousy to the country—The people 
enlightened, learn the true state of their situation—Discussion—And 
Arguments—Inefficiency of the measures as a future security—A 
Reform of Parliament indispensable to public security—Mr. Pitt—Hia 
duplicity and corruption—Constitutional reasons for a Reform of Par¬ 
liament—Deduction—Conclusion drawn by the Volunteers—Proved 
by incontrovertible fact—State of Electors and Representatives com¬ 
pared—Mr. Curran—His character. 

I. These historic incidents have been anticipated, to g:v 3 
a clearer insight into the interesting and important de¬ 
bates which immediately succeeded them. During the 
Marquis of Rockingham’s lifetime, Earl Charlemont, al¬ 
ways virtuous but often feeble, had found something 
most congenial to himself in the refined habits and mila 
plaintive disposition of that nobleman ; and was led, by 
his love of order, to conceive a visionary amalgamation 
of popular rights and ministerial generosity ; and the 
fundamental object of all British Cabinets—disunion 
amongst patriots—seemed likely to gain much ground 
through so debilitating a doctrine. Those who were 
guided by Lord Charlemont’s tranquil credulity and 
courtly moderation, had been disposed to be content with 
simple repeal. But Mr. Flood had seen the crisis, and 
had boldly thrown down the gauntlet. Mr. Grattan had 
as boldly taken it up; direct hostilities commenced; and 
the same Parliament, which for a moment had been all 
confidence and unanimity, arrayed itself for combat 
under two powerful leaders. 

Mr. Flood had become most prominent amongst the 
Irish patriots. He was a man of profound abilities, high 
manners, and great experience in the affairs of Ireland, 
He had deep information, an extensive capacity, and a 
solid judgment. His experience made him sceptical— 
Mr. Grattan’s honesty made him credulous. Mr. Grattan 


262 


RISE AND FALL 


was a gieat patriot—Mr. Flood was a great statesman. 
The first was qualified to achieve the liberties of a coun¬ 
try—the latter to untangle a complicated constitution. 
Grattan was the more brilliant man—Flood the able 
senator. Flood was the wiser politician—Grattan was 
the purer. The one used more logic—the other made 
more proselytes. Unrivalled, save by each other, they 
were equal in their fortitude ; but Grattan was the more 
impetuous. Flood had qualities for a great prince—■ 
Grattan for a virtuous one ; and a combination of both 
would have made a glorious monarch. They were 
great enough to be in contest; but they were not great 
enough to be in harmony: both were too proud ; but 
neither had sufficient magnanimity to merge his jealou¬ 
sies in the cause of his country. 

It was deeply lamented, that at a moment, critical and 
vital to Ireland beyond all former precedent, an inveterate 
and almost vulgar hostility should have prevented the co¬ 
operation of men, whose counsels and talents would have 
secured its independence. But that jealous lust for undi¬ 
vided honour, the eternal enemy of patriots and of liberty, 
led them away even beyond the ordinary limits of Parlia¬ 
mentary decorum. The old courtiers fanned the flame—- 
the new ones added fuel to it—and the independence of 
Ireland was eventually lost by the distracting result of 
their animosities, which in a few years was used as an 
instrument to annihilate that very legislature, the preser¬ 
vation of which had been the theme of their hostilities. 

This irreconcileable difference of opinion between two 
of the ablest men of Ireland, generated the most ruinous 
consequences for that ill-fated country. Both had their 
adherents, as pertinacious as themselves. The simple 
repeal had contented Mr. Grattan and Earl Charlemont; 
the Renunciation Act was enforced by the perseverance 
of Mr, Flood and the people, and still considered incon¬ 
clusive. Both parties adhered to their own conviction ; 
nothing could warp the opinions of either; and to the 
day of their death their opinions remained unaltered, and 
events proved that both were mistaken. 

II. By those two statutes, by daily political discussions 
amongst the Volunteers, and by a rnultiti.de of literary 
publications, circulated with activity, the people were at 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


263 


length informed of the plain, true facts of their own case 
and situation. They were reminded, as at their first for¬ 
mation, that Great Britain had long usurped the power 
of binding Ireland by acts of their own Parliament, and 
that Ireland had thereby been reduced to a state of con¬ 
stitutional slavery ; that the British Government, intend¬ 
ing to carry its usual usurpation to an extraordinary 
length, had passed an Act in “ the British Parliament,” 
during the reign of George I., “binding Ireland by 
British statutes,” cutting off at once every branch of Irish 
liberty ;* that this statute did not affect to originate any 
new power by England, but declared peremptorily, that 
such a right had always existed in the English Parlia¬ 
ment, and always would be acted on when it suited the 
convenience of the British Ministry. They were reminded, 
that when the Irish nation became too wise and too pow¬ 
erful to be longer retained in subjection, England (in 
order to pacify the Irish nation) had herself voluntarily 
repealed that statute declaratory of her pre-existing 
power; but did not, by that repeal, renounce the right 
which she had so long exercised, nor did she in any way 
declare that she would never re-enact it: that the same 
right remained, in abeyance; nor had England admitted 
in any way that she had been originally erroneous in 
enacting it. 

III. These being the plain and undisputed facts of the 

* When the author uses the term liberty, as connected with Ireland, 
lest his application of that term might be misconceived , he thinks it right 
to state that he applies the term “ liberty,” previous to 1782, in contradis¬ 
tinction to the then existing constitutional subserviency of that country. 
From 1782 to 1800, he uses it as a constitutional quality, actually and 
fully enjoyed by Ireland; and after 1800, as a constitutional quality ac¬ 
tually relinquished ; because he thinks, and always has thought, and that 
in unison with the avowed opinion of many of the King’s jresent law 
officers and judges of Ireland, that no detached distinct nation can be 
said to possess the attributes of a constitutional liberty without a resi¬ 
dent legislature of her own to regulate her own concerns; and because 
he conceives the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, considered 
abstractedly as a union, has too much of the “ imperium in imperio” 
remaining, to be a perfect union of two nations, and too little of it to be 
x federal compact; and he considers that the tie of connection between 
England and Ireland, as it stood on the 1st day of January, 1800, was 
the" most perfect, firm, and advantageous union (illustrating the term 
u liberty”) that human wisdom could have devised. 


264 


RISE AND FALL 


case, it was thence argued that the mere repeal of the 
declaratory statute, so far from definitively renouncing 
the existing right of legislation over Ireland, confirmed it; 
and, by repealing, only enacted the expediency of discon 
tinuing its exercise under existing circumstances. The 
statute which had declared that there existed such a pre¬ 
existing right in England to bind Ireland, was indeed 
repealed by England; but still, though the declaration 
was repealed, the right was not renounced, and remained 
only dormant till it might be advisable, under a change 
of circumstances, to re-declare it by a new statute. 

The simple repeal of any statute certainly leaves the 
original jurisdiction untouched, exactly in the same situ¬ 
ation as before the repeal of it, and with an undiminished 
right to re-enact it as might be convenient: and the 6th 
of George I., its enactments and repeal, stood exactly in 
the same situation as any enactment and repeal of any 
ordinary statute of the same monarch. It was therefore 
argued, that it had become indispensably necessary, for 
the security of Ireland, that the British Parliament should, 
by statutes of their own, not only repeal the Act declara¬ 
tory of [rish dependence, but also expressly and for ever 
renounce the existence of any such legislative authority 
over Ireland, or future renewal of such usurpation, with¬ 
out which renunciation Ireland had no guarantee for her 
constitution. 

Had the statute of George I. been an assumption of a 
new authority to legislate for Ireland, its simple repeal 
would have at once admitted the usurpation of such modern 
assumption ; but as that statute was the recognition and 
declaration of pre-existing authority, coeval with the 
British Parliament itself, a repeal could not be binding 
on any future Parliament, which might at any future time 
be disposed to re-enact it. 

But a statute of the British Parliament and the King of 
England, by his royal assent, directly renouncing the pre- 
existence of such assumed right by England, pledged ail 
future Parliaments (as far as Parliaments can be pledged) 
to the same principle, and also definitively pledged all 
future Kings of England against any future re-assump¬ 
tion or exercise of such power over the Kingdom of Ire- 
laud; and though the Kings of England and Ireland 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


265 


rrj st always be the same individual, the realms were 
totally distinct, their crowns were distinct, though on the 
same head; and Ireland, possessing her own indepen¬ 
dent legislature any such future attempt by a King cf 
England would then be a direct breach of the law of 
nations, and a dereliction of his Irish office by the King 
of Ireland. 

These arguments* became a universal subject of dis 
cussion; and were rendered of still greater interest by 
debates, which every day arose on other points inter¬ 
woven with the arrangements. Numerous British statutes 
had been enacted, expressly naming and legislating for 
Ireland, as if enacted by its own Parliaments. All these 
remained still in activity, and great inconvenience must 
necessarily have arisen from an immediate and indiscri¬ 
minate suspension of their operation. None were enacted 
in Ireland to supply their places; and great difficulties 
were occurring. Modern England could not be humili¬ 
ated by generously declaring that her ancestors had ex¬ 
ceeded their constitutional authority as to Ireland. On 
•he contrary, it should have been her proudest boast to 
have done justice by avowing it. This was not humilia¬ 
tion—it was true glory: and when England, shortly after¬ 
wards, actually renounced for ever, by the act of her own 
legislature, her domination over Ireland, she could not 
have been much gratified by the temporizing complaisance 
of the Irish Parliament: 

IV. It is also very remarkable, that though Mr. Walshe 
and the Recorder alone divided against the address of 
Mr. Grattan, in a very short time afterwards there was 
scarcely a member of Parliament, or a man in Ireland, 

* The arguments used by Mr. Flood and Mr. Grattan on this intricate 
point, and which finally decided the fate of Ireland, branched out into 
*o many parts, were debated with such ability by both parties, that 
though the arguments may be compressed, the strength and beauty of the 
language never can be given in any publication. At all events, those 
arguments have been published by a number of persons, and partly 
Appear in Mr. Grattan’s speeches, published by his son. The author, 
however, never being on that point of the same opinion as Mr. Grattan, 
mentioned to him his dissent and his difficulty as to the terms in which 
tie should publish the points and issue of "those arguments; and the 
Author has no mode so authentic as by Mr. Grattan’s letter to-himself on 
that subject, obviously not a private one, but rather intended, in point of 
•ubiect, to be made public. 


26 * 


RISE AND PALL 


who did not concur decidedly in their opinions; and even 
the British ministry and the British legislature, by theii 
own voluntary act, confirmed their doctrine. Public dis¬ 
cussions on one great subject seldom fail to involve retlec- 
tions upon others, and these naturally brought the Irish 
people to discuss the imperfections of their own Commons 
House of Parliament, and to perceive, that without a 
comprehensive reform of that department, there was no 
security against the instability of events and the duplicity 
of England. 

The following letter, however, from Mr. Grattan to the 
author, appears to throw new and material light upon the 
subject, and to develop the individual views and politics 
of Mr. Grattan himself, more clearly than any speech or 
document heretofore published. 

This letter also proves, more than volumes, the insin¬ 
cerity of the Duke of Portland and the English Govern¬ 
ment : their distinction between the words “ recognised” 
and “ established,” leaves their political reservation be¬ 
yond the reach of scepticism. 

This letter shows palpably the ruin that a want ol 
co-operation between two great men brought upon the 
country; and, above all, it incidentally exposes the 
courtly, credulous, and feeble politics of Earl Charlemont, 
so injurious to the public cause, and so depressing to the 
vigour and energies of its greatest advocate. 

To Mr. Ponsonby’s chance remissness on a future cri¬ 
sis, is attributable the ultimate loss of the Irish legisla¬ 
ture, as Lord Charlemonfs political courtesy was, on this, 
fatal to its security. Patriots without energy, as bees 
without stings, may buz in sunshine, but can neithei 
defend their hive, nor assail their enemy. 

“ House of Commons , London , 

“ March , 2nd. 

“ My dear Barrington, 

“ I am excessively sorry that your health has been 
impaired, and I hope it will soon be restored. 

“ I will get you the Whig-C\wh resolution. They pro¬ 
posed to obtain an internal reform of Parliament, in which 
they partly succeeded: they proposed to prevent an 
union , in which they failed. 


C0T THE IRISH NATION. 


267 


“ The address that declared no politico. question re¬ 
mained between the two countries, had in view to stop 
the growth of demand, and preserve entire the annexation 
of the Crown. It was, to us, an object to prevent any 
future political discussion touching the relative state of 
the two countries; because we might not be so strong as 
in that moment. And it was an object to us, and to the 
English Minister, to guard against any discussion that 
might shake the connection to which we were equally 
attached. Fox wished sincerely for the liberty of Ireland 
without reserve. He was an enemy to an union, and 
wished the freedom to be annexed to his name. 

“ The Act of repeal was a part of a treaty with Eng¬ 
land. A declaratory Act of title is the affirmance of tht 
existence of a former title: the repeal is a disaffirmance 
of any such former title; the more so when accompanied 
by a transfer of the possession, viz. the transfer of the 
final judicature and the legislation for the colony-trade of 
the new-acquired islands, made in consequence of a pro¬ 
test by Ireland against the claim of England. 

u The repeal was not any confession of usurpation—it 
was a disclaimer of any right. You must suppose what 
I have said, unsaid. A man of spirit may say that; but 
he will hesitate to unsay word by word. That was the 
case of England. She would not in so many words con¬ 
fess her usurpation, nor did she; on the contrary, when 
they pressed her, she exercised the power, and said, ‘ The 
constitution of Ireland is established and ascertained in 
future by the authority of the British Parliament.’ It 
was proposed in the House of Commons to change the 
words, and say 1 recognised for ever.’ They agreed to 
the words 4 for ever,’ and refused the word ‘ recognised,’ 
and kept in the word ‘ established.’ This, I call making 
Ireland free with a vengeance. 

“ I wish, in your History, you would put down the 
irgument on both sides. I can get you Flood’s published 
by his authority. 

'I am excessively thankful for the many handsome 
things you have said of me. 

“ Your’s most truly, 

“HENRY GRATTAN. 

* Chevalier Barrington , 

“ Boulogne , pres Paris” 


268 


RISE AND FALL 


V. Their late* constitutional acquirements, though 
apparently confirmed beyond the power of revocation, 
might he yet a precarious tenure, whilst Ireland had a 
House of Commons, so framed and elected as to be sus¬ 
ceptible of relapse into its former degradation; and 
though their constitution was not in any state of present 
danger, future insecurity must he the necessary conse¬ 
quence of a feeble or corrupt representation. 

Over the Lords and over the Crown, the control of the 
people was insufficient and uncertain. It was just, there¬ 
fore, that they should have a counterpoise, by a House of 
Commons of their own free selection; and events have 
since proved that the suspicions were prophetic. 

These, and such like reflections, led the Irish people 
gradually according to their capacities, into a train of 
constitutional deductions; and suggested topics as to the 
reform and purity of Parliament, which they had nevei 
before thought of. 

The great body of a people can never be capable of 
that cool and discriminating course of reasoning, which 
individuals or limited delegations are capable of exercising, 
hence they too frequently, in great general assemblies, 
follow, whether right or wrong, the sentiments of those 
who reason more plausibly than themselves, or whose 
elocution grasps at their feelings, and gives them a fac¬ 
titious superiority over ordinary understandings. 

It was impossible that the great, body of the Irish 
Volunteers, which had now assumed the guardianship of 
Ireland, could be capable of methodical, deep, systematic 
reasoning, or of unerring political deduction from argu¬ 
ments of enthusiastic and heated orators; but a great 
proportion of them reasoned by that instinctive power 
which nature confers on shrewd uncultivated capacities, 
and on none more than the humble orders of the Irish 
people; they caught the strong features of their case and 
their constitution: they knew that they had contributed 
by (heir arms and by their energy, to the common cause 
of their country, they felt that they had been victorious, 
they listened attentively to their officers, who, more 
learned than the soldiers, endeavoured to adapt their 
explanations to the strong, coarse minds which they 
Bought to enlighten, they instructed them as to existing 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


269 


circumstances, and tc future possibilities, and thus en- 
deavoured to teach those whom they commanded, not 
only how to act, hut why that principle of action was 
demanded by their country. 

At this time, the visionary and impracticable theories 
of more modern days had no place amongst the objects of 
the armed societies of Ireland; but the naturally shrewd 
and intelligent capacities of the Irish people were easily 
convinced, that without some constitutional reform in the 
mode of electing the Commons House of Parliament, they 
could have no adequate security for permanent indepen¬ 
dence. They learned that paroxysms of liberty which give 
rise to revolutions, do not endure for ever, and that the 
spirit of Irish freedom, which had effected the liberation 
of their country, might expire, that the independence of 
the constitution, unless protected by a free parliament, 
never could be secure, that the enemy might attempt tc 
regain her position, and that the battle would then be 
fought again under multiplied disadvantages. 

Such a reform, therefore, as might insure the unin¬ 
fluenced election and individual independence of the.Irish 
representatives, appeared to be indispensable, not as a 
theoretical innovation, nor of a revolutionary complexion, 
but as a practical recurrence to the first and finest 
elements of the constitution as it then existed, without 
any diviation from the principles on which it had been 
with so much wisdom originally constructed. This species 
of reformation, and none other, was that which the Irish 
nation so judiciously sought for; nor were they without 
high authority and precedent to countenance that requi¬ 
sition. Mr. Pitt, that great, hut mischievous and mistaken 
statesman, at that time professed himself to be a reforming 
patriot, but it was profession only, his deep and solid in¬ 
tellect was soon perverted by the pride of his successes, 
and confidence in his omnipotence. He reigned at an 
unexampled era, his fertile and aspiring, but arrogant 
genius, led him into a series of grand and magnificent 
delusions, generating systems and measures which, while 
professing to save, sapped the outworks of the British 
constitution, and accelerated, if not caused, the financial 
ruin in which he left his country. He, however, lived 
long enough to rule as a minister by that system of cor> 

23* 


270 


RISE AND FALL 


mption which, as a patriot, he had reprobated ; and to 
extinguish the Irish Parliament, by the loyalty and at¬ 
tachment of which his government had been uniformly 
supported. 

The Irish people coincided with Mr. Pitt as to the 
necessity of a reform ; nor did the leading reformers of 
Ireland materially differ with him in the details of that 
reformation: the principle was admitted by both nations, 
but Mr. Flood was undisguised, and Mr. Pitt was in 
masquerade. 

The course of reasoning which led the armed associa¬ 
tions of Ireland at that period to decide upon the impe¬ 
rative necessity of a reform of Parliament, was of that 
sober and convincing nature, which without sophism or 
declamation, proves itself by the force of uncontrovertible 
premises, and of plain and simple deductions. 

VI. 1st. It could not be denied that the fundamental 
principle of the British constitution is a perfect relative 
equipoise and distinctiveness of its three component es¬ 
tates, the King, the Lords, and the representatives of the 
people. 

2nd. It could not be denied, that any deviation from 
that equipoise and distinctiveness necessarily altered the 
political symmetry of the whole, and destroyed that 
counteracting quality of the three estates, on the preser¬ 
vation of which public liberty entirely depended. 

:>d. It could not be denied that the Members of the 
House of Commons, forming the third estate, should, by 
the theory of the constitution, be persons freely selected 
by the people themselves, to guard above all things 
against any coalition of the other estates, (the Crown and 
the Peers), which coalition must endanger the liberties of 
the people, by extending the prerogatives and powers of 
the Executive Government beyond the limits the consti¬ 
tution restrains them to. 

4th. It could not be denied, that any one individual, 
arrogating to himself, and actually exercising a power to 
nominate, and by his own sole will elect and return re¬ 
presentatives to the Commons House of Parliament, sent 
them into that assembly, not to speak the sentiments of 
the people, but the sentiments of the individual who no¬ 
minated them, and caused an immediate deviation from 


O? THE IRlwH NATION. 


271 


the fundamental principles of the British constit ltion; 
but where members of the House of Peers so nominated 
and returned persons to sit and vote as members in the 
House of Commons, it was, in fact, the House of Peers 
voting by proxy in the House of Commons ; thereby at 
)nce destroying the independence and distinctiveness of 
die third estate, and enabling the Crown and the Peers, 
oy coalition, to control the Commons, and establish a 
despotic throne and an arbitrary aristocracy. 

The power, therefore, constitutionally conferred on the 
King by his royal prerogative of creating Peers, coupled 
with the power unconstitutionally practised by Peers, of 
creating Commoners, left the people no sufficiently 
counteracting constitutional protection for their liberties. 

5th. It could not be denied, that purchasing the repre¬ 
sentation of the people in the Commons House of Par¬ 
liament for money, and selling the exercise of that repre¬ 
sentation for office, was a constitutional crime of great 
magnitude; and that when such a practice was publicly 
countenanced, it of course destroyed the purity of Parlia¬ 
ment, the principle of representation, and safeguard of 
the constitution. 

But if these purchases were made by servants of the 
Executive Government, in trust, for the uses and purposes 
of its ministers to enable them to carry measures through 
the legislature, which their naked strength, official 
character, or the merits of the measure, might be unable 
to effect, it was unequivocal that such practices put an 
end totally to all security in the constitution, and that the 
people must owe the enjoyment of their liberties only to 
the timidity, the forbearance, or the possible wisdom of 
an official oligarchy. 

The Volunteers now examined existing matters of fact 
in Ireland as applicable to these premises, and comparing 
the one with the other, the conclusion became so plain 
and obvious to the humblest capacities, that the necessity 
of reform oi modification in the mode of electing 
members for the Parliament of Ireland, required no 
further argument. 

To ascertain the relative matters of fact, as applicable 
to these premises, the Volunteers caused to be printed 
and published, lists of their House of Commons, desig 


272 


B.ISE AND FALL 


nating the mode of election of every individual; the 
individual by whose personal influence each representative 
was elected; the number of persons who nominally 
returned the member; and, as far as could be ascertained, 
the money or valuable consideration, paid for such uncon¬ 
stitutional representation. The result of the inquiry left 
no room to doubt the applicability of those inquiries to a 
great proportion of the Commons House of Parliament. 
The Earl of Ely nominated nine members to the House 
of Commons. The Earl of Shannon nominated seven; 
and above twenty other members of the House of Lords 
nominated and elected members for the House of Com¬ 
mons. Many individuals openly sold their patronage, for 
money, to the best bidder, others returned members at 
the nomination of the Viceroy or his secretary; and it 
appeared that the number of representatives elected freely 
by the people, upon constitutional principles, did not 
compose one-fourth of the Irish Commons. 

VII. An internal reform of Parliament was, on full 
consideration, deemed quite incompetent to meet the 
danger. Numerous statutes had been passed to punish, 
as a public crime, the bribery of an elector; but no law 
reached the individual who possessed and exercised an 
influence over electors, and then secretly sold that in¬ 
fluence for money or for title. The elector who corruptly 
voted, was considered as a criminal; but the man who 
corruptly bought and sold his vote, was tolerated. On 
the fullest investigation, therefore, it appeared that in 
Ireland the third estate was, in a considerable degree, 
nominated by the second estate; that both the second and 
third estates were influenced by the first estate ; and that 
the whole symmetry and equipoise of the constitution 
were theoretic, but had no solid or permanent existence. 

The Volunteers at length determined to demand a 
reform of Parliament, and to bring the measure before 
the existing Commons in a garb which they conceived 
would render it irresistible; and from that determination 
arose the formation of a national representative convention 
of patriotic delegates selected from the armed regiments, 
the most extraordinary, animating, but unprecedented 
assembly ever yet beheld in the midst of a people, at the 
moment enjoying an ascertained constitution. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


273 


Had this assembly been conducted with discriminating 
caution and unflinching firmness, it might have attained 
all its objects, and have effected a complete renovation of 
the British constitution, through the Irish people. England 
would not long have delayed acting on the successful pre¬ 
cedent of Ireland. This extraordinary meeting; however, 
though its objects were not effectuated, brought forward a 
great mass of talent and of patriotism which had there¬ 
tofore lain dormant. 

During the progress of all political reforms and revo¬ 
lutions, men have been frequently found pressing them¬ 
selves forward into public notice, solely by the strength of 
their talents and the power of their energies; springing 
at once from the humblest ranks of obscurity, to the high 
est class of reputation. 

One of these luminaries was about this period seen 
arising in Ireland, whose celebrity in that country had no 
competitor. 

John Philpot Curran, a person of humble origin, of 
careless habits, and contemptible exterior, rose at once to 
give new lustre and spirit to an already highly enlightened 
and spirited profession. He had passed through the 
University of Dublin unsignalised by any very peculiar 
honours; and was admitted to the Irish bar, scarcely 
known, and totally unpatronised. With the higher orders, 
he had no intercourse, and had contracted manners, and 
adopted a kind of society, tending rather to disqualify him 
for advancement: but whatever disadvantages he suffered 
from humble birth, were soon lost sight of amidst the 
brilliancy of his talent, and a comparison of what he had 
been, with, what he rose to, rendered the attainments of 
his genius the more justly celebrated. Never did eloquence 
appear in so many luminous forms, or so many affecting 
modulations, as in that gifted personage. Every quality 
which could form a popular orator was in him combined; 
an^ it seemed as if nature had stolen some splendid 
attribute from all former declaimers to deck out and 
embellish her adopted favourite. On ordinary occasions, 
his language was copious, frequently eloquent, yet gene¬ 
rally unequal, but, on great ones, the variety of his elo¬ 
cution, its luxuriance, its effect, were quite unrivalled 
solemn, lulicrous, dramatic, argumentative, humourous 


m 


RISE AND FALL 


sublime, in irony, invincible, in pathos, overwhelming, 
in the alternations of bitter invective and of splendid 
eulogy, totally unparalleled; wit relieved the monotony 
of narrative, and classic imagery elevated the rank oi 
forensic declamation. The wise, the weak, the vulgar, 
the elevated, the ignorant, the learned, heard and were 
affected, he had language for them all. He commanded, 
alternately, the tear or the laugh; and at all times acquired 
a despotic ascendency over the most varied auditory. 

These were the endowments of early Curran; and these 
were the qualities which, united to an extraordinary pro¬ 
fessional versatility, enabled him to shoot like a meteor 
beyond the sphere of all his contemporaries. 

In private and convivial society, many of his public 
qualities accompanied him in their fullest vigour. His 
wit was infinite and indefatigable. A dramatic eye anti¬ 
cipated the flights of an unbounded fancy; but the flashes 
of his wit never wounded the feelings of his society; 
except, perhaps, those minds of contracted jealousy, which 
shrink up from the reluctant consciousness of inferiority. 
He was, however, at times, very unequal. As in a great 
metropolis (to use one of his own illustrations,) “ the palace 
and the hovel, splendour and squalidness, magnificence 
and misery, are seen grouped and contrasting within the 
same precinctsthere were occasions when his wit sunk 
into ribaldry, his sublimity degenerated to grossness, and 
his eloquence to vulgarity; yet his strength was evident 
even in his weakness. Hercules, spinning as a concubine, 
still was Hercules; and, probably, had Curran been devoid 
of these singular contrarieties, he might have glided into 
a brilliant sameness; and, like his great contemporary, 
Burgh, though a more admired man, he would probably 
have been a less celebrated personage. 

The innumerable difficulties he had to encounter in 
early life, were not easy to conquer; but once conquered, 
they added an impetus to his progress. His ordinary, 
mean, and trifling person; his culpable negligence of 
dress, and all those discidvantageous attributes of early 
indigence, were imperceptible or forgotten amidst his 
talents, which seldom failed to gain a decided victory over 
the prejudices even of those who were predetermined to 
condemn him. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


275 


His political life was unvaried: from the moment he 
became a Member of the Irish Parliament his temperature 
never changed. He pursued the same course, founded on 
the same principles. He had closely connected himself 
in party and in friendship with Mr. George Fonsonby; 
but he more than equalled that gentleman in the sincerity 
of his politics. From the commencement to the conclusion 
of his public life, he was the invariable advocate of the 
Irish people; he never for a moment deserted their in¬ 
terest or abandoned their defence. He started from 
obscurity with the love of Ireland in his heart; and white 
that heart beat, it was his ruling passion. 

As a mere lawyer, he was in no estimation; but, as an 
able advocate, he had no rival; and, in his skill and powers 
of interrogation, he vastly excelled all his rivals. He never 
failed to uphold the rights and independence of the Irish 
bar, on every occasion where its privileges were trenched 
upon; and the Bench trembled before him when it merited 
his animadversions. None ever assailed him publicly, 
who was not overthrown in the contest; and even the 
haughty arrogance of Fitzgibbon seldom hazarded an 
attack, being certain of discomfiture.* 

Mr. Curran was appointed Master of the Rolls (Mr. 
Ponsonby then Lord Chancellor.) He was disappointed 
in not obtaining a legal situation more adapted to his des* 
cription of talents. He was also chagrined at not having 
obtained a seat in the Imperial Parliament, and at length 
resigned his office, upon a pension of 2,700/. per annum. 
He died at Brompton, on the 14th of October, 1817, after 
a short illness, and now “ not a stone tells where he lies.” 
His funeral was private, and he was buried in the yard 
of Paddington Church. The Author knew him. He had 
too much talent to last, every thing is worn out by inces¬ 
sant action. He was never fond of show, and in his lattei 
days he both sought and obtained obscurity. Of the close 
of his life I have heard much, and credit little. 

* Mr. Curran and Lord Clare, whilst the latter was Attorney General, 
had on one occasion a controversy which could only be terminated by a 
personal battle. The combatants fired two cases of very long pistols at 
each other, but certainly with very bad success and very little eclat; for 
they were neither killed, wounded, satisfied, nor reconciled; nor did 
tither of them express the slightest disposition to continue the engagement 


276 


RISE AND FALL 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Volunteers received by the King—Happy state of Ireland—Progressive* 
ly prosperous—Untoward consequences of the collision between Flood 
and Grattan—A second Dungannon meeting of delegated Volunteers— 
Mr. Flood gains ground—Arguments—A National Convention decided 
on—Their first "meeting — Interesting procession of the Delegates 
described—Entrance of the Delegates—Extraordinary coincidence of 
localities—Embarrassing situation—The Delegates meet at the Ro¬ 
tunda. 

I. That unparalleled army, the Irish Volunteers, had 
now ascended to the zenith of their character and pros¬ 
perity. They had liberated their country from a thraldom 
of seven centuries, their numbers, their attitude, and re¬ 
spectability, had conquered their independence from a 
more powerful nation, without bloodshed. The King 
received at his court, and his levees, with apparent cordi¬ 
ality, Volunteer officers and soldiers who without his 
authority, formed an army unconnected with his Crown, 
and independent of his Government: they acted without 
pay, and submitted to discipline without coercion. 

The regular forces paid them military honours ; the 
Parliament repeatedly thanked them for supporting a 
constitution upon which their establishment had undoubt¬ 
edly encroached. They were adored by the people, 
dreaded by the Minister, honoured by the King, and cele¬ 
brated through Europe. They had raised their country 
from slavery, and they supported their Monarch against 
his enemies. They were loyal, but determined to be free; 
and if their Parliament had been honest, Ireland would 
have kept her rank, and the nation preserved its tranquil¬ 
lity. The rise and progress of that institution have been 
already traced ; its decline and fall must now be recorded. 

At this period, Ireland appeared to have nothing to de¬ 
sire but capital and industry. She was free, she was in¬ 
dependent, populous, powerful and patriotic ; her debt did 
uot exceed her means of payment; but of trading capita! 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


277 


she had insufficient means, and her industry was cramp¬ 
ed by the narrowness of her resources. All the materials 
and elements of industry were within her own realm, 
and the freedom of trade she had acquired, now promised 
a stimulus to her commerce which she had never before 
experienced. The people were united ; Catholic and 
Protestant were on the most cordial terms ; the voice of 
patriotism had exorcised the spirit of discord, the Catholic 
for the moment forgot his chains, and the Protestant no 
longer recollected his ascendency; peace, order, and se¬ 
curity, extended over the whole Island ; no army was 
required to defend the coasts, no police was wanted to 
preserve tranquillity, neither toreign nor domestic enemies 
could succeed against a prospering and united people. 

Had the ardent nature of Ireland been then tempered 
by calm and persevering judgment, had ordinary fore¬ 
sight controlled or guided her zeal, and had rational scep¬ 
ticism moderated her enthusiasm, one short session of 
her own Parliament might have intrenched her indepen 
dence, and established her constitution, beyond the power 
or the influence of all her enemies. 

Untoward destiny, however, had decreed that unfor¬ 
tunate and ever mal-governed Island to fall into the error 
by which individuals so often meet their ruin. Having 
obtained successes beyond their expectation, a mist ob¬ 
scures their vision ; they know not where to stop, they 
rush blindly to the dangers that surround them, and lose 
by indiscretion what they had achieved by fortitude. 

It was justly feared that the too sensitive, credulous, 
and enthusiastic Irish, in a fallacious paroxysm of grati¬ 
tude, might raise the drawbridge of their fortress for the 
admission of their enemies, and, amidst the dissensions 
of the most able and honest of their warders,* those who 
sought their overthrow might again penetrate into her 
citadel. 

II. The unfortunate difference of sentiments between 
Mr. Flood and Mr. Grattan, by enfeebling the authority 

* The jealousies, the adverse feelings, and discordant proceedings oi 
Mr. Flood and Mr. Grattan, and their partisans, prevented tne adoption 
of measures which might have secured the country against any attempt 
at union or annexation. See the speech of Lord Castlereagh on 1 5lb 
January, 1800. 

24 


RISK AND FALL 


278 

of both, had diminished the security of the nation. Mr. 
Flood’s diffidence of government was most congenial to 
the prospective interests of a-people long enslaved. The 
energy of patriots had achieved, but it required the wisdom 
of statesmen to secure, their newly-acquired constitution. 
Both, however, united in opinion as to the necessity of a 
free and independent Parliament to protect that constitu¬ 
tion; but no unanimity existed between them or through¬ 
out the country, as to the details of that measure. 

By this unfortunate collision, the old courtiers obtained 
breathing time, and the Minister acquired hope. The 
hundred eyes of the British Argus were keen to discover 
the failings and frailties of the Irish patriots ; nor did 
they watch long in vain; fora measure, which forms one 
of the most remarkable incidents of Irish History, soon 
gave the English Government an opportunity of resuming 
its operations against that devoted country. 

The line of reasoning already described, as to the state 
of the Parliament, and the necessity for its reform, made 
a deep and general impression, and was indefatigably 
circulated throughout the whole nation. Discontent 
quickly sprang up amongst the people, and their meetings 
increased. At length delegates from several Volunteer 
regiments again assembled at Dungannon, to consider the 
expediency and means of an immediate reform of Parlia¬ 
ment. Hence originated one of the most extraordinary 
scenes in the annals of any country. 

III. Mr. Flood was now considered the most able leader 
of the Irish patriots. Those who supported his opinions 
still pertinaciously contended, that the measures already 
conceded were not, in themselves, guarantees for the con¬ 
stitution which had been acquired, or in any respect suf¬ 
ficient for the preservation of independence; that confi¬ 
dence in the existing state of her Parliament, would lull 
the nation into a fatal slumber, from which she might be 
awakened only by a new assault upon her freedom; and 
that no arrangement, without an explicit, formal, and un¬ 
equivocal recantation by England, of her original usur¬ 
pations, ought to have been accepted. They urged that 
such an avowal would certainly have been obtained, if the 
Parliament had not been corrupted or deceived. They 
contended, that if England should refuse such a declara- 


OF* THE IRISH NATION. 


279 


tion, that, in itself, would be positive proof of her general 
insincerity ; aud that if she haughtily persisted in retain* 
ing the theory of her usurpation, after the practice of it 
had been relinquished, it was evident she would watch 
the first favourable moment to impose still stronger chains 
than those that she had loosened. 

This strong language had already been freely used to 
rouse the friends of Ireland to a conviction of the versa¬ 
tility which her Representatives had given such practical 
proofs of. It was most assiduously disseminated, and not 
without foundation, that the Irish Parliament, in its re¬ 
cent proceedings, had clearly evinced more talent than 
prudence, and less wisdom than declamation; that whilst 
patriots were debating in the House, the Secretary was 
negociating in the corridor; and therefore it was necessary 
to the public safety to strangle corruption in its cradle, 
and give the people a due confidence in the integrity of 
their Representatives. 

It was considered, by many men of influence and for¬ 
tune, that a reform of the Commons House of Parliament 
was attainable, and should be then attained. The na¬ 
tional arrangements daily appeared more imperfect, for 
they had not been conducted with the sound principles of 
cautious statesmen, nor had satisfactory guarantees been 
established for their future security. As Parliament was 
then returned, no well-founded confidence could be placed 
in its 'permanent protection ; and it was most judiciously 
stated by Mr. Flood, that the speech of a puzzled Min¬ 
ister , put into the mouth of an embarrassed Monarch , 
was at that moment the only security for the continuance 
of Ireland as an independent nation ; that such indepen¬ 
dence might rest solely upon a single word of two sylla¬ 
bles,* on which every future Minister might found falla¬ 
cious reasoning, and place his own .equivocal construc¬ 
tion. This was, in truth, prophetic. 

It was also more than insinuated, by men of clear ana 
dispassionate judgment, that the struggles in Parliament 
were becoming rather for the supremacy of men and party, 
than for the preservation of the Constitution; that they 
were blind, rancorous, and ill-timed individual contests, 
dangerous to the state, and irritating to the people. They 
* The word Final 


880 


RISE AND PALL 


argued, that the piercing eye of the British Minister wou.d 
not fail to watch for the moment when, the Irish being 
enfeebled by their dissensions, he might destroy that in¬ 
dependence which the architects of 1782 had attempted 
to establish, wit hout guarding against the insecurity of the 
foundation. So far these arguments were true, but men 
stopped not here. It was suggested that a requisition to 
the Parliament, to reform itself, urged by the people, 
in their civil capacities only, might not have sufficient 
weight to command attention. If, however, 300 delegates 
were chosen by Volunteer regiments, from men of fortune, 
influence, and character, it would prove to the Parliament 
that a reform was required by those who had a right to 
require it, and could enforce it. They might send the 
heads of a Bill to Parliament through the hands of their 
own members ; such a mode of presentation could create 
no cavil; and, above all, the very same men who would 
deliberate as volunteer delegates, and prepare such a bill, 
would be, in a great measure, those who, in their civil 
capacities, composed the several grand juries of the na¬ 
tion, many of them being members of the Legislature. 
The measure was almost unanimously determined upon. 

IV. Three hundred delegates were now chosen by dif¬ 
ferent corps, and the 10th of November (1783) was pro¬ 
claimed for the first sitting of the Grand National Con¬ 
vention of Ireland, within the precincts of the two Houses 
of Parliament, the members of which were at the same 
period exercising their legislative functions. Never wa.i 
any country placed in a more extraordinary or critical, 
situation. 

This state of affairs in Ireland was then seriously fell 
by the English Cabinet, it became alarmed. Ireland now 
stood in a high stalion. No longer (in the language of 
Mr. Gibbon) a remote and obscure Island, she formed a 
new feature on the face of Europe, and might assert her 
rank amongst the second order of European nations. In 
constitution and in laws, municipal and international, she 
was fundamentally the same as England ; her legislature 
was, in theory, altogether independent. The individuality 
of their joint Monarch constituted the indefeasible basis 
vf their federative connection; but their respective Par¬ 
liaments alone could make laws to bind their respoctivs 


oy THE IRISH NATION. 


281 


people, to regulate their own commerce, and to pay their 
own armies. Ireland had wisely and magnanimously re¬ 
corded her loyalty, and proclaimed her determination, 
that “ whilst she shared the liberty , she would share tint 
fate of the British nation ; ” but the compact was recipro¬ 
cal, and she had bound herself no further. 

England could not with apathy regard a military Con¬ 
vention, meeting and operating on political subjects, in 
the centre of the Irish Metropolis. 

The attention of England was by the adoption of these 
extraordinary proceedings naturally roused to a more 
detailed review of the statistical circumstances of Ireland 
By the acquisition of a free commerce, and of unshackled 
manufactures, the revenue and resources of Ireland con¬ 
sequently became susceptible of extraordinary improve¬ 
ment, and might soon have equalled those of many 
continental nations, and solely at her own disposal aud 
appropriation. 

In the capability of military power also she had few 
rivals; at that period she contained, (and continues to 
contain) more fighting men, or men who love fighting , 
and who might be collected in a week, than any other 
state in Europe. The powerful and elevated position she 
was then about to occupy, and the unprecedented steps 
by which she had mounted to that eminence, could not be 
regarded without strong feelings of solicitude by the 
sister country. 

The example of Ireland had afforded a grave and 
instructive lesson to an oppressed and vassal people, and 
a wholesome lecture to griping and monopolising govern¬ 
ments. Of all the extraordinary circumstances which the 
state of Ireland then displayed, none was beheld, at that 
critical period, with such mingled wonder and alarm by 
England, as the rapid progress of the Volunteer associa¬ 
tions. And the bold step of a delegated convention, the 
increasing numbers, discipline, and energy of that military* 
institution, had no precedent, nor in the changed state 
of Europe, can the phenomenon ever appear in any 
country. 

The Volunteers, now actually armed and disciplined , 
and whose delegates were now to be assembled were said 
to exceed 150,000 organzied men. But whatever thfl 

24* 


RISE AND FALL 


§82 

force then was, the Volunteer recruits, if called on, would 
have comprised the male inhabitants of nearly the whole 
island, including every rank, religion, and occupation. 

Such a force, though self-levied, self-officered, and 
utterly independent of any control or subjection, save tc 
their own chosen chiefs, still remained in perfect harmony 
amongst themselves, in entire obedience to the municipa* 
laws of the country, holding the most friendly and intimate 
intercourse with the regular forces, and by their activity 
and local knowledge, preserving their country in a state 
of general and unprecedented tranquillity. 

This extraordinary military body, equally ready to shed 
their blood in opposing a foreign enemy, supporting theii 
own liberties, or defending those of England, combining 
the moral and physical powers, and nearly the entire 
wealth, of an immense population, nothing could have 
resisted; and whatever ground of alarm the British 
Government might then have felt, had ministers been 
mad enough, at that period, to have attempted its direc*. 
or compulsory suppression, instead of its attachment to 
the sister country, the result would inevitably have been 
a prompt separation of the two islands. 

Ireland was in this state at the first meeting of the 
National Convention, and the Parliament assembled about 
the same time. The Volunteer elections were quickly 
ended without tumult or opposition, and their 300 
delegates, each escorted by small detachments of Volun¬ 
teers from their respective counties, entered the metropolis, 
and were universally received with a respect and cor¬ 
diality impossible to be depicted; yet, all was harmony 
and peace. Many men of large fortune, many of great 
talent, and many members of the Lords and Commons, 
had been elected delegates by the Volunteers , and took 
upon themselves the double functions of Parliament and 
of the Convention. 

The Royal Exchange of Dublin was first selected for 
the meeting of the Volunteer delegates. Whoever has 
seen the metropolis of Ireland must admire the external 
architecture of that building; but it was found inadequate 
to the accommodation of a very large deliberative assem¬ 
bly. It was therefore determined that the Rotunda 
Jbeii* g then the finest room in Ireland) was best adapted 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


283 


for the meeting of the National Convention. This was, 
and continues to be, the great assembly-room of Dublin. 
It consists of a circular saloon of very large dimensions, 
connected with numerous and very spacious chambers, 
and terminates Sackville street, the finest of the Irish 
metropolis. It is surmounted by a dome, exceeding in 
diameter the Irish House of Commons, and was perfectly 
adapted to the accommodation of a popular assembly. 

This saloon and the connected chambers ha^been fitted 
up for the important purpose to which they were to be 
appropriated. But little did the Irish people conceive, 
that what they then considered as the proudest day their 
nation had ever seen, only preceded a little time her 
national dissolution, and even prepared the grave in which 
her new-gained independence was to be inhumated. Every 
measure, however, had been previously taken to prepare 
that splendid chamber for this unparalleled assembly, 
and to receive the delegates and their escorts with every 
possible mark of respect and dignity. Volunteer grena¬ 
diers were ordered to attend on the Convention as a 
guard of honour during their sittings, and to mount an 
officer’s guard at the house of the President; whilst 
Volunteer dragoons patrolled during the sittings, in the 
utmost tranquillity, throughout the entire city. The 
detachments of country corps, who had escorted their 
delegates, having a great emulation as to their appearance 
and acquipments on this grand occasion, had new dresses 
and accoutrements, and it was agreeable to see the noble 
hunters on which a great proportion of the cavalry were 
mounted. The horse had entered Dublin in very small 
detachments, from exceedingly numerous corps, and when 
occasionally formed into line, the great variety of their 
dresses, ensigns and equipments, presented a splendid, 
but very striking and singular appearance.* 

* The author had been sent to town with a detachment of his father's 
cavalry corps, the “Cullenagh Rangers;” their undress was white, with 
black velvet facings, the full dress, scarlet. At the head of these few 
men, the author felt prouder than an Emperor, it made an impression on 
his youthful mind, which, even in the chill of age, is still vivid and ani¬ 
mating, a glowing patriotism, a military feeljng, and an instinctive, 
though a senseless lust for actual service., arose within him, a sensation 
which is certainly inherent in a great proportion of the Irish people, and 
which seldom forsakes them but with their lives. 


284 


RISE AND FALL 


The citizens of Dublin excelled in their hospitality, 
they appeared in crowds every where, forcing their invi¬ 
tations on the country Volunteers, every soldier had nu¬ 
merous billets pressed into his hand, every householder 
who could afford it, vied in entertaining-his guests with 
zeal and cordiality. Every thing was secure and tranquil, 
hut when it was considered that 300 members had vir¬ 
tually proclaimed a concurrent Parliament, under the 
title of a National Convention, and were about to lead a 
splendid procession through the body of the city, to hold 
its sittings within view of the Houses of Legislature, the 
affairs of Ireland seemed drawing fast to some decisive 
catastrophe. But it was also considered, that the Con¬ 
vention was an assembly of men of rank, of fortune, and 
of talent. The Convention, therefore, possessed an im¬ 
portance and a consistence that seemed to render some 
momentous consequence absolutely inevitable; the crisis 
did arrive, but it was unfortunate ; Ireland tottered, re¬ 
trograded and has fallen. 

The firing of twenty-one cannon announced the first 
movement of the delegates from ihe Royal Exchange to 
the Rotunda, a troop of the Rathdown cavalry, commanded 
by Colonel Edwards, of Old Court, County of Wicklow, 
commenced the procession; the Liberty Brigade of artil¬ 
lery,* commanded by Napper Tandy, with a band, suc¬ 
ceeded. A company of the Barristers’ grenadiers, headed 
by Colonel Pedder, with a national standard for Ireland, 
borne by a captain of grenadiers, and surrounded by a 
company of the finest men of the regiment came after, 
their muskets slung, and bright battle-axes borne on their 
shoulders. A battalion of infantry, with a band, followed, 
and then the delegates, two and two, with side-arms, car¬ 
rying banners with motto and in their respective uniforms, 
broad green ribbands were worn across their shoulders. 
Another band followed playing the special air alluded to. 
The chaplains of the different regiments in their cassocks, 

* Some of the musicians of Dublin in 1780, had been employed to 
compose a march for the general adoption of the Volunteer corps through¬ 
out the kingdom, that all might be accustomed to march to the same air 
at their reviews, &c. They composed a simple-noted march, now obso¬ 
lete, but of which the author retained a copy, still interesting, as connect 
bd with a recollection of the times, and of that unparalleled Institution. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


285 


marched each with his respective corps, giving solemnity 
to the procession, and as if invoking the blessing of Hea< 
ven on their efforts, which had a wonderful effect on the 
surrounding multitude. Several standards and colours 
were borne by the different corps of horse and foot, and 
mother brigade of artillery, commanded by Counsellor 
Oalbeck, with labels on the cannons’ mouths,* was escort¬ 
ed by the Barristers’ corps in scarlet and gold (the full 
dress uniform of the King’s Guards;) the motto on their 
buttons being u Vox populi suprema lex est .” 

The procession in itself was interesting, but the sur 
rounding scene was still more affecting. Their line of 
march, from the Exchange to the Rotunda, was through 
the most spacious streets and quays of the city, open on 
both sides to the river, and capable of containing a vastly 
larger assemblage of people than any part of the metro¬ 
polis of England. An immense body of spectators, 
crowding every window and house-top, would be but an 
ordinary occurrence, and might be seen and described 
without novelty or interest, but, on this occasion, every 
countenance spoke zeal, every eye expressed solicitude, 
and every action proclaimed triumph, green ribands and 
Handkerchiefs were waved from every window, by the 
enthusiasm of its fair occupants ; crowds seemed to move 
on the house-tops, ribands were flung upon the delegates 
as they passed; yet it was not a loud or boisterous, but a 
Arm enthusiasm. It was not the effervescence of a heated 
crowd, it was not the fiery ebullition of a glowing people, 
it was not sedition, it was liberty that inspired them, the 
heart bounded though the tongue was motionless, those 
who did not see, or who do not recollect that splendid day, 
must have the mortification of reflecting that (under all its 
circumstances) no man did before, and no man ever will 
“ behold its like again.” 

V. The entrance of the delegates into the Rotunda was 
more than interesting, it was awful. Each doffed his 
helmet or his hat, as if he felt the influence of that sacred 
place where he was about to sacrifice at the Shrine of 
Freedom. Every man knew he was, in some respect, 
overstepping the boundaries of the Constitution, but lie 

* Their motto was, “ Oh Lord, open thou our lips, and our moulhf 
thall sound forth thy praise !” 


286 


RISE AND FALL 


considered that his trespass was for the purpose only ol 
adding security to that Constitution which he seemed to 
transgress. 

Such a state of things never existed in any other 
country, consistent with perfect tranquillity. Ireland, 
however, proved on that occasion her superior loyalty, 
and gave the retort courteous to all her calumniators. It 
was a matter of fact that the independence of Ireland had 
been achieved, that it had been proclaimed in Ireland and 
in England, that it had been solemnly ratified and con¬ 
firmed for ever by his Majesty from his throne, as monarch 
of both countries. That compact was therefore firm, 
because it was federal and final, and the delegates sought 
what their own Parliament alone was competent to discuss, 
and over which England had no control. A partial reform 
of the representation was a measure which the British 
Minister himself had the duplicity of proposing in Eng¬ 
land, yet of undermining in the sister country, even in the 
face of his own renunciation of ali innovation and acknow¬ 
ledgment of the former usurpation. 

VI. These would at any other time, have been subjects 
for deliberate consideration, but it was too late to reflect, 
the die was thrown, and, as if every thing conspired to 
increase the peculiarity of the scene, even the site of the 
Rotunda, where the Convention assembled, exactly termi¬ 
nated the street and fronted the river, on the other side of 
which, in a direct line, was seen the magnificent dome of 
the Commons House of Parliament, were 300 members 
returned as representatives of the Irish people, according 
to the practice of the Constitution, were also delibei ating. 

Those localities excited, in every rational mind, some¬ 
thing like a dread of possible collision, it was also a grave 
and curious consideration, that the avowed object of the 
Volunteer delegation was, in fact to degrade the character 
of the Parliamentary delegates, and, under the name of 
reform, convict them of corruption. 

It was impossible not to perceive, that both were placed 
In a situation, which must necessarily terminate in the 
humiliation of one of them. 

It was also remarkable that the Volunteers, who had 
thus sent their delegates to reform the Commons House 
of Parliament, had been themselves solemnly thanked the 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


287 


preceding session, for their support to the Constitution, by 
the very same House of Commons which they now deter¬ 
mined to reorganize and reform. 

It is impossible not to contrast this national convention 
of Ireland with the democratic assemblies which, in later 
days overwhelmed so many thrones and countries. With 
what pride must an Irishman call to his recollection the 
concentration of rank and fortune, and patriotism and 
loyalty, which composed that convention of the Irish 
people ! With what pride must the few survivors re¬ 
member the 300 Irish nobles and gentlemen, assembling 
peaceably and loyally to demand a reform, an object of 
all others the nearest to their hearts, and the most ne¬ 
cessary to their independence! 

Yet the recollection of that assembly must also cast: a 
dark shade over the History of Ireland, by transferring a 
reflection on its proud birth to its humble termination. 

A delineation of those scenes may appear, to modern 
readers, an exaggerated episode. That generation which 
beheld, or acted in those days, is drawing fast to a close ; 
and whilst a few contemporaries exist, it would be unpar¬ 
donable to leave the scenes altogether to future historians, 
who could convey but an imperfect recital of actions they 
had never seen, and frigid ideas of feelings they had never 
experienced. The results of that extraordinary measure 
may enable posterity to do some justice to calumniated 
Ireland, where loyalty appears to have wonderfully re¬ 
tained its influence over a powerful, proud, and patriotic 
assembly, and over an armed and irresistible population, 
under circumstances the most dangerous and irritating 
that had ever terminated with tranquillity in any nation. 

The Artillery had scarcely announced the entry of the 
delegates into the Rotunda, when that silent respect which 
had pervaded the entire population, during the procession, 
yielded to more lively feelings ; no longer could the peo¬ 
ple restrain their joy. At first, a low murmur seemed to 
proceed from different quarters, which, soon increasing in 
its fervour, at length burst into a universal cheer of tri¬ 
umph, like distant thunder, gradually rolling on, till one 
great and continued peal burst upon the senses ; the loud 
and incessant cheering of the people soon reverberated 
from street to street, contributing the whole powers of 


RISE AND FALL 


££8 

acclamation to glorify an assembly which they vainlj’ con¬ 
ceived must be omnipotent, it was an acclamation, .ong, 
sincere, and unanimous, and occasionally died away, 
only to be renewed with redoubled energy. The vivid 
interest excited by this extraordinary and affecting scene 
can never be conceived, save by those who were present, 
and participated in its feelings, nor can time or age ob¬ 
literate it from the memory. 

It is not unworthy of remark, that a wonderful pro¬ 
portion of female voices was distinguishable amidst these 
plaudits. A general illumination took place throughout 
the city, bands of music were heard every where, and 
never did a day and night of rejoicing so truly express 
the unsophisticated gratification of an entire population. 
The Government was astounded, the Privy Council had 
sat, but were far from unanimous, and had separated 
without decision. The old courtiers called the scene 
frantic, but it was not the frenzy of a mob, it was the 
triumph of a nation, incomprehensible to the vulgar 
meetings of another country. 

The scene within was still more novel and impressive. 
The varied uniforms of the delegates had a very singular 
appearance; sent from .different regiments, no two of 
them were dressed or armed alike; cavalry, infantry, gre¬ 
nadiers, artillery, generals, colonels, serjeants, privates ; in 
fine, all possible varieties of military dress and rank were 
collected in one general body, destined to act solely in a 
civil capacity. 

The cheers, the cannon, the music, the musketry, com 
bined to prevent any procedure that day, save that of tha 
members giving in their delegations, and nominating some 
officers to act during the session. 


THE IRISH NATION. 


289 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Tb« Bishop of Derry takes his seat at the Convents..—His splendour— 
And pageantry—Procession—Popularity—Extraordinary Visit to the 
House of Lords—A Guard of Honour mounted at his house—Entire¬ 
ly devoted to the Irish people—His great qualities and acquirements— 
Opposes Charlemont and Grattan—First treacherous Scheme of the 
British Government again to enslave Ireland—The spirit of the Irish 
Parliament declines—Reasons for Reform in Parliament—Absolutely 
essential to her prosperity—Further traits of Lord Charlemont’s Char¬ 
acter—His inefficiency—His views—Opposes the Bishop of Derry’s 
Election for the Presidency of the National Convention—Many Mem¬ 
bers of Parliament attend the Convention also -Earl Charleinont's 
dilemma—Proceedings of the Convention—The Bishop and Mr. 
Flood acquired the ascendency—The Parliament and Convention— 
Desperate step of Government—Fitzgibbon's Philippic—Most violent 
Debates—’Bill rejectei—Extraordinary coincidence of facts—Mr. Con¬ 
nolly’s motion—Feeble and insidious resolution of Lord Charlemont— 
Fatal adjournment—Called a meeting of his partisans—Breaks his 
dust—Inexcusable conduct—-False statement—-Virtually dissolves the 
Convention before the full meeting—Lord Charlemont justly reproba¬ 
ted—Volunteers beat to arms—Lord Charlemont’s intolerance—Op¬ 
posed by the Bishop of Derry. 

[. Previous to the meeting of the delegates, the Bishop 
of Derry had determined to convince the Irish people, 
that he was no lukewarm professor of adherence to their 
interest; his character, already given, is confirmed by 
every act of his life when in Ireland. He took his seat 
amongst the Irish delegates, at the Rotunda, with the 
greatest splendour; and, to prove that he preferred the 
claims of the Irish Volunteers to both his English rank as 
Earl of Bristol and his Irish rank as a spiritual noble, he 
entered Dublin in royal state, drew up his equipage at the 
entrance to the House of Lords, as if he halted to teach 
the Peers their duty to their country, and then moved for¬ 
ward to take his seat at the Rotunda, as an Irish Delegate 
in the National Convention. Such a circumstance can be 
scarcely credited in England ; but had not Lord Charle- 
mout’s temporizing neutralized his spirit, it is probable 

25 


RISE AND FALL 


£90 

that the Convention might have succeeded in its object 
It is not, therefore, wonderful, that a British Peer, an 
Englishman, and above all, a Bishop, taking so decided 
a part in the cause of Ireland, should gain a popularity 
that few before him ever had so fully, 01 perhaps, more 
justly, experienced. He certainly was sincere; his pro¬ 
ceedings on this occasion were extiaordinary, and not 
unworthy of a special notice. 

The Lords had taken their seats in the House of Peers 
when the Bishop of Derry began his procession to take 
his seat in the Convention. He had several carriages in 
his suite, and sat in an open landau, drawn by six beau¬ 
tiful horses, caparisoned with purple ribands. He was 
dressed in purple, his horses, equipages, and servants 
being in the most splendid trappings and liveries. He 
had brought to Dublin, as his escort, a troop of light 
cavalry, raised by his unfortunate and gnilty nephew, 
George Robert Fitzgerald; they were splendidly dressed 
and accoutred, and were mounted on the finest chargers 
that the Bishop or their Commander could procure. A 
part of these dragoons led the procession, another closed 
it, and some rode on each side of his Lordship’s carriage. 
Trumpets announced his approach, and detachments 
from several Volunteer corps of Dublin joined his Lord- 
ship’s calvacade. He never ceased making dignified 
obeisances to the multitude : his salutations were enthu¬ 
siastically returned on every side; “ Long live the Bishop,” 
echoed from every window; yet all was peace and har¬ 
mony, and never did there appear so extraordinary a 
procession within the realm of Ireland. 

This calvacade marched slowly through the different 
streets, till it arrived at the portico of the house of Lords, 
which adjoined that of the Commons. A short halt was 
then made, the trumpets sounded, the sudden and unex¬ 
pected clangor of which echoed throughout the long cor¬ 
ridors. Both Houses had just finished prayers, and were 
proceeding to business, and, totally unconscious of the 
cause, several members rushed to the entrance. The 
Bishop saluted all with royal dignity, the Volunteers 
presented arms, and the bands played the Valunteer’s 
march. Of a sudden another clangor of trumpets was 
heard ; the astonished Lords and Commons, unable to 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


291 


divine what was to ensue, or the reason of the extra¬ 
ordinary appearance of the Bishop, retired to their re¬ 
spective chambers, and with great solicitude awaited the 
result. 

The Bishop, however, had done what he intended ; he 
had astonished both Houses, and had proved to them his 
principles and his determination ; amidst the shouts and 
cheers of thousands, he proceeded to the Rotunda, where, 
in point of dignity and importance, he certainly appeared 
to surpass the whole of his brother delegates. He enter¬ 
ed the chamber in the greatest form, presented his cre¬ 
dentials, took his seat, conversed a few moments with all 
the ceremony of a temporal prince, and then, with the 
excess of that dignified courtesy of which he was a perfect 
master, he retired as he had entered, and drove away in 
the same majestic style, and amidst reiterated applauses, 
to his house, where the Volunteers had previously mount¬ 
ed a guard of honour. He entertained a great number of 
persons of rank at a magnificent dinner, and the ensuing 
day began his course amongst the Delegates, as an ordi¬ 
nary man of business. 

The personal appearance of the Bishop was extremely 
prepossessing ; rather under the middle size, he was pe¬ 
culiarly well made, his countenance fair, handsome, and 
intelligent, but rather expressive of a rapidity of thought 
than of the deliberation of judgment; his hair, receding 
from his forehead, gave a peculiar trait of respectability 
to his appearance. 

His manner appeared zealous and earnest, and rathei 
more quick than is consistent with perfect dignity; but 
he seemed to be particularly well bred and courteous; 
and altogether, he could not be viewed without an im¬ 
pression that he was a person of talent and of eminence. 

He appeared always dressed with peculiar care and 
neatness ; in general, entirely in purple, and he wore 
diamond knee and shoe buckles. But what I most ob¬ 
served in his dress was, that he wore white gloves, with 
gold fringe round the wrists, and large gold tassels hang¬ 
ing from them. 

The Author was then too young, and too unimportant, 
to have the honour of any personal acquaintance with 
that distinguished prelate ; but the singularity of his 


292 


RISE AND FALL 


habits, his patriotic conduct, popular character, and in> 
pressive appearance, excited a satisfaction in beholding 
iiim, and impressed hirn strongly on my recollection. 

The Bishop, in devoting himself to the service of the 
Irish people, could have no personal object but popularity 
He could be greater in title; he was rich, and in health, 
vigour, and spirits; his learning was rare, his talents very 
considerable—in all respects he was an able man. From 
the moment he became an Irish Bishop he adopted Ire¬ 
land, built an immense palace in a remote and singular 
situation, and did numerous acts which nobody could ac¬ 
count for. He had many of those qualities in an eminent 
degree, which our more ancient histories have attributed 
to the proudest churchmen; but they were in him so 
blended with liberality, so tempered by enlightened prin¬ 
ciples, that they excited a very different mode of conduct 
from his episcopal predecessors. However, his ambition 
for popularity obviously knew no bounds, and his efforts 
to gain that popularity found no limits. His great failing 
was a portion of natural versatility, which frequently 
enfeebled the confidence of his adherents. It was sup¬ 
posed that the gentle, lambient flame of Charlemont, 
would soon be quenched in the rolling, rapid torrent of 
the Bishop’s popularity, and that the epigrammatic elo¬ 
quence of Grattan, cramped or overpowered by the influ¬ 
ence of his splendour, would probably be withdrawn from 
Jhe scene of action. The Bishop soon adopted his course; 
hti paid his whole attention to Mr. Flood. In this he was 
light. It is not too much to say, that Mr. Flood was, at 
least, the best educated and deepest statesman, and the 
most able partisan, in the Irish Senate. 

II. Whilst these extraordinary and brilliant scenes were 
proceeding in Ireland, the embarrassment of the British 
Ministers must necessarily be on the increase, if possible. 
They well knew, that if the Convention succeeded in re¬ 
forming the Commons House of Parliament, the British 
Government would lose the use of the only instrument 
through which they ever could hope to regain their ascen¬ 
dency; and with this view, and at this critical period* 
the plot was suggested and the conspiracy formed, to re¬ 
place Ireland within the trammels of the sister country, 
whenever a feasible opportunity should offer. The so* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


293 


ijuence of Irish events leaves no doubt of the truth of this 
observation. 

These collisions were, to England a golden opportu¬ 
nity: plans against the Volunteer Associations were 
deeply laid, and with considerable prospect of eventually 
succeeding, first by working upon the courtly moderation 
and courteous feebleness of the short-sighted Charlemont, 
and credulity of Grattan, to dismiss the Convention, and 
thereby divide and dispirit the Volunteers. And next, 
by corrupting Parliament and seducing the Irish gentle¬ 
men, under pretence of upholding the British Constitu¬ 
tion. to recapture the Irish independence. Whoever 
reads the political history of those realms from 1782 to 
1800, cannot doubt that this object, from that period to 
the completion of the legislative Union, was never lost 
sight of. 

The British Minister had also reasons nearer home for 
determining to undermine the reforming spirit of the Irish 
Volunteers. He knew that if a reform of Parliament 
were effected in Ireland, though the same reasons did not 
exist, yet the same measure could not be long withheld 
from the English nation; and as the Parliament of Eng¬ 
land was at that era supposed to be ruled absolutely by 
the influence of the Crown, the control of the Minister 
would receive a vital blow, which it never could recover. 

The commercial system of England, also, whilst with¬ 
out external rivalship, had no necessity for a special pro¬ 
tection. But now she had a rival in the free trade of 
Ireland, a subject which soon after came under full dis¬ 
cussion. The jealousy of England was proved by her 
commercial propositions, and the Irish Parliament had yet 
sufficient honesty to resist that inroad. 

But as a body that had laboured long and much, a 
lassitude and relaxation were obviously commencing in 
the Irish Senate, how long that spirit, which had acquired 
their rights, might retain its vigour to protect them, 
depended on the purity of the representatives, and this 
was the true reason for considering a reform imperative 
in Ireland. 

Whilst, therefore, the subject of Reform is under dis¬ 
cussion, it may be proper to see how far the then existing 
state of Ireland substantially required that measure, oi 
25* 


294 


RISE AND FALL 


warranted that conclusion. She was to commence as a 
trading country, and her situation on the map of the world 
seemed to combine many defects and many advantages. 
She appears partially secluded from that general inter¬ 
course which other states of Europe enjoy fiom their 
localities. England, on the east, intervenes between her 
and the British Channel and German Ocean ; Scotland 
intercepts the Northern Seas; and though the most 
western point of Europe, and of course well situated for 
the western commerce, the enterprise and great capital, 
or jealousy, of England, could have excluded her at 
pleasure, if unprotected by her own Parliament, from any 
proportional participation in the colonial trade.* On a 
view of the whole, her position might have entitled her tc 
have become a considerable emporium, but jealousy is 
natural to commercial nations, and Ireland would probably 
have possessed the same lust for monopoly, had she been 
circumstanced as Great Britain. But the non-importation 
resolutions of Ireland had alarmed Great Britain, and 
proved to her to what a zeal of retaliation the Irish people 
might be urged by any future measures of injustice. 

The situation of Ireland places her comparatively out 
of the pale of busy Europe, by the absence of that 
political interest which the Powers of Europe take in the 
commerce of other and inferior countries. This was a 
deprivation which nothing could ever remedy or counter¬ 
act, but a local legislature, constantly resident, and con¬ 
stantly alive to the foreign and domestic interests of their 
country, t 

These were some of the causes which rendered a pure 
and independent Parliament more necessary to Ireland 
than to her sister country. Ireland never had been a 

* It could not be very gratifying to the Irish traders or people, to see 
the immense colonial and general trade of Liverpool necessarily pass by 
the ports of Waterford and Dublin. The author has seen a fleet of sev¬ 
enty West Indiamen sail proudly down the Irish Channel to the mer¬ 
chants at Liverpool, and one solitary vessel separate from the fleet, and 
steer into the port of Dublin, with sugar and molasses, for home con¬ 
sumption. 

f See ante Sir Lucius O’Brien’s Speech on the conduct of Portugal. 
He proposed merely a declaration of war by Ireland against her, and in 
the end Portugal was obliged to redress her, notwithstanding the dupli¬ 
city of the British ministei and Mr. Eden. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


295 


nation ol extensive commerce, yet even the narrow 
channels of her trade were ever contracted by the 
jealousies and monopoly of England ; -and this in public 
opinion, rendered a pure parliament indispensable, as the 
only ample security against such interference.* 

To constitute an. Irish Parliament, therefore, as much 
as possible free from every tinge of English commercial 
or political influence, was plausibly considered essential 
to the security of the former country. The necessity, in 
point of fact, can only be judged of by this view of the 
external state of Ireland at the crisis, when a military 
convention to discuss Reform surprised every nation of 
Europe, that would condescend or take the trouble to 
think about an island so secluded. 

111. The public characters of the Bishop of Derry and 
his more moderate rival, were so extremely dissimilar, 
and their composition so totally repugnant, that any 
amalgamation of sentiment was utterly impossible. A 
cautious attachment to regularity and order, a sincere love 
for the people, a polished, courtly respect for the aristo¬ 
cracy, with a degree of popular ambition and a proportion 
of individual vanity, were the governing principles of 
Lord Charlemont during the whole of his political 
conduct. But, unfortunntely, these were accompanied by 
a strong taint of that religious intolerance which has since 
proved the interruption of Irish tranquillity. 

No man in Ireland could do the honours of a review 
better; and though his personal courage was undoubted, 
no man in Ireland was likely to do the duties of a battle 
worse than Lord Charlemont. He guessed the extent of 
his own powers, and sedulously avoided any situation to 
which they might prove inadequate. If the people had 
not respected his virtues, they would not have submitted 
to his weakness ; and if he had not loved the people, he 
would not have sacrificed his tranquillity to command 
them. He was an excellent nurse , tender of the consti- 

* Vidf King William’s reply to the British Parliament; and in 1484 
the great manufacturing towns of England and Scotland lully displayed 
the si me attachment to their monopolies, even to the ruin of Irish com* 
Bierce. They have become better informed since that period* and are, ol 
course more liberal. 


RISE AND FALL 


2 <> 6 

tution, but dreading every effective remedy prescribed foi 
its disorders. 

Lord Charlemont saw clearly that the Presidency of 
the National Convention was of vital consequence to the 
country, and the master-key of his own importance. He 
had his little as well as his great feelings, and both were 
set into action by this dilemma. He knew full well that 
if the bold and enterprising Prelate were at the head of 
that Convention, he would lose all weight with the 
Government, and all influence with the people. The 
measure was altogether too strong for the character of 
Lord Charlemont, he knew he should be incapable of 
governing that body, if it once got into any leading-strings 
but his own, and it was obvious that if his Lordship should 
get one step beyond his depth, he never could regain his 
position. His friends, therefore, anticipated every means 
to ensure his nomination to the Presidency, and the Bishop 
of Derry, before he was aware that there would be any 
effectual opposition to himself, found Lord Charlemont 
actually placed in that situation, where he might restrain, 
if not counteract the ultra energies of the reforming party. 
This was the very step the Government desired; Earl 
Charlemont might be managed, but the Bishop of Derry 
would have been intractable. Lord Charlemont involun¬ 
tarily became the tool of Government, whilst he fancied 
he was labouring in the service of the people. From this 
moment the neutralizing system by which its President 
wished to conduct that assembly became obvious. Every 
body might foresee that not only the Convention, but per¬ 
haps the Volunteer associations were likely to droop. 

Many sensible men had apprehended that the Bishop’s 
politics might be too strong; the very act of his attaching 
himself to Ireland proved at once their vigour and 
eccentricity; and hence the Presidency of the Convention, 
in every point of view, became a measure of extreme 
importance. 

IV. A few of the members of the House of Commons 
had declined their election to the Convention,* but some 
of the ablest and most respectable members performed 

* The state of Parliament may be imagined from Mr. George Moli¬ 
ne ux’s apologising to the House of Commons for being unable to bring 
forward a motion of which he had given notice—“ As the close atteu* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


297 


their duties alternately in both assemblies. The Lord 
Lieutenant and his Privy Council at the same time held 
their sittings at the Castle, exactly midway between the 
two Parliaments, they received alternate reports from 
each, and undecided whether the strong or the passive 
system were least, or rather most, fraught with danger, 
they at length wisely adopted their accustomed course, 
and determined to take advantage of the chances of 
division, and of the moderation, ductility, and pride of 
Lord Charlemont. 

It was artfully insinuated to Lord Charlemont, by the 
friends of Government, that the peace of the country was 
considered to be in his hands, that he had accepted a 
situation of the most responsible nature, and that if he 
did not possess sufficient influence to curb the Convention, 
he ought at once to resign the trust, and thereby give the 
Parliament a ground of requiring the immediate dissolu¬ 
tion of its unconstitutional rival. 

Lord Charlemont found himself in a situation of great 
embarrassment. If he held the. Presidency, he was 
responsible for its proceedings, if he resigned it, he would 
still be responsible for having countenanced the organi¬ 
zation of the assembly, the Bishop would succeed him in 
his chair—and he would still be considered the inceptive 
promoter of whatever might be adopted by his successor. 
Lord Charlemont’s pride resisted his resignation. He was 
too high to be commanded, he was too feeble to control, 
and he found himself in a state of great perplexity. After 
much deliberation, he adopted the suggestions of the 
courtiers, and was led blindfold to that deceptions course, 
which might answer his tranquil objects for the moment, 
but was beneath his character, and which must eventually 
have extinguished all the popular influence of the Volun¬ 
teers, and have destroyed that of the country. In fine he 
lost himself; he sacrificed his country, and determined on 
a hue of proceeding entirely unworthy of his former 

tion he had been obliged to give to the National Convention, did not 
leave him time to prepare himself on Parliamentary subjects.” 

The members trying the petition on the Cork election, adjourned the 
trial, though the expense was daily very great, as there were some ol 
the Committee who were obliged to attend their duty in the National 
Convention. 


RISE AND FALL 


conduct; if he could not govern, he resolved to temporize, 
divide, neutralize, and dissolve the assembly. 

This fatal system was eventually successful, and his 
Lordship effected the dissolution of that body whose con¬ 
fidence had raised him to so glorious an eminence, by 
which the British Government now foresaw the possi¬ 
bility of recapturing Irish independence. Lord Charle- 
mont had been seized with a nervous dread of that very 
institution he had originally been so active in creating ; 
and entirely, though unconsciously, surrendered himself 
to the darling objects of a deep and treacherous adminis¬ 
tration. 

And here let it be remarked, that the independence of 
Ireland, which certainly was first achieved by the exer¬ 
tions of the Whigs, was now left unguarded, and after¬ 
wards destroyed by the corrupt tergiversation of many 
members of that same jiarty. The inconsistent conduct 
of some of the Whigs, and their Place Bill in 1794,* were 
the proximate means through which the Union was ulti 
mately effected. 

Y. The proceedings of the Convention were carried on 
foi some time with the utmost regularity. The rules and 
orders, and customs of Parliament were adopted, and the 
meetings were held and continued without any material 
interruption. But when such an assembly had been de¬ 
legated for the purpose of requiring the Parliament to 
purify itself, and remodel its constitution, it could not be 
expected that every member could possess similar views 
or similar feelings, or perhaps observe the most uninter¬ 
rupted order and discipline in discussions. But the 
decorum and regularity of the Convention may be best 
exemplified by observing that there was not any meeting 
or discussion of the National Convention of Ireland, from 
its first to its last sitting, more confused or boisterous 
than what has very frequently been witnessed in the 
Commons House of the Imperial Parliament. 

* The Place Bill, perseveringly forced by the Whigs upon the Gov¬ 
ernment by admitting the vacating of seats by nominal offictrs (Esekeat- 
orship of Munster), enabled Lord Castlereagh to pack the Parliament in 
1800, with a degree of undisguised effrontery never before attempted by 
any Minuter. See hereafter, Mr. Crow’s Letter to Lord Belvideie, m 
’vhich the high crimes and misdemeanours of Lord Castlereagh are ap 
arent beyond the power of refutal. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


299 


A strong opposition soon arose to the imbecile system 
of Lord Charlemont. Superior public characters at length 
assumed their stations, and effectively overwhelmed that 
childish affectation of delicacy, so utterly incompatible 
with the circumstances of the times, and the spirit of the 
patriots. Yet unfortunately Lord Charlemont was elected, 
and took the chair as President. 

The Bishop, disappointed of the chair, lost no time in 
rendering it a seat of thorns. He took to his council, the 
man of all others best adapted to give weight and dignity 
to the measure of Parliamentary reform. Lord Charle¬ 
mont supported reform most sincerely. Mr. Grattan was 
also a sincere and honest friend to a purification of Par¬ 
liament : but his favourite scheme, as he said, to begin 
with, was an internal reform. He partially accomplished 
that object by the Place Bill, whilst, by one of its clauses, 
he most certainly lost both the Parliament and the Con¬ 
stitution.* 

VI. The Bishop and Mr. Flood soon gained a full as¬ 
cendency in the Convention, and many men of the very 
first rank, fortune, and influence, took part in its deliber¬ 
ations. Numerous plans were proposed, and reform, of 
all others the most difficult of political measures, was 
sought to be too promptly decided in a heated and impa¬ 
tient assembly. 

By the imprudence of both parties, the Convention and 
the Parliament were driven into a direct collision. After 
much deliberation, a plan of reform, framed by Mr. Flood 
and approved by the Convention, was directed by them 
to be presented to Parliament forthwith, and the sittings 
of the Convention were made permanent till Parliament 
had decided the question. Mr. Flood obeyed his instruc¬ 
tions, and moved tor leave to bring in a Bill to reform 
the Parliament. 

The Government felt that a collision of the two assem¬ 
blies was unavoidable. The crisis, however, afforded no 

* The Author, when a member of the Irish Parliament, clearly fore¬ 
saw the use that any minister might make of the vacating clavse and 
strongly opposed that clause in his place, though conceded by Govern¬ 
ment. The title of a Place Bill was so agreeable to the Opposition, thal 
very few of them ever gave themselves th' trouble of considering th* 
details of it. 


300 


RISE AND FA LI 


opportunity for mature consideration, und it was not long 
before the danger of so hasty a proceeding was fatally 
experienced. Government had yielded to the Volunteers 
when it could not resist them ; but it was not piobable 
that the Parliament would quietly capitulate to the Con¬ 
vention ; whilst the triumph of the Parliament implied 
not only the destruction of the Convention but of the 
Vol unteers. 

The measure of reform, patriotic and noble, blinded the 
nation to every consideration but its attainment, actual 
and prompt; yet so many persons of character, fortune, 
and influence, were in both assemblies, that a discreet 
and prudent deliberation might possibly have devised 
means of averting so dangerous a crisis. 

The Government resolved to risk a direct assault upon 
the Volunteers, by refusing leave to bring in Mr. Flood's 
Bill, because it had originated from their deliberations 
Strong language was used, but with some precaution, 
even by Mr. Yelverton, who had been a zealous Volun¬ 
teer, but was now the Attorney General. His eloquence 
was splendid ; but the bold, restless, arrogant spirit of 
Fitzgibbon, ever prone to offend, to irritate, and to per¬ 
vert, in a speech replete with the most unnecessary in¬ 
vective, unwarrantable fury and abuse, assailed the Con¬ 
vention, the Volunteers, and the Bill, with every epithet 
and allusion that could bring the Government and the 
Volunteers into a state of direct hostility. Had his effort: 
been crowned with success, British connection would pro¬ 
bably not have been of three months duration. 

The House felt the danger of his conduct, and he was 
not supported in his philippics. Mr. Curran called Mr. 
Fitzgibbon a maniac and an incendiary; Mr. D. Daley 
termed Mr. Flood a demagogue. The debate became 
quite unprecedented in point of violence and party recri¬ 
mination, but the good sense of some members endea¬ 
voured to moderate the partisans. The Bill, after a 
dreadful uproar, was rejected by 158 to 49 ;* 138 of the 
majority were placemen, and the very persons on whom 
the reform was intended to operate. It is very re- 
maikable, that it was 138 placemen that rejected the 
Reform Bill in 1783, and that it was the same number of 

* Ninety-three members were absent. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


301 


ptacemen who carried the Union Bill in 1£00, which, if 
the reform had succeeded, never could have been passed. 

Upon this very decision ultimately depended the 
existence of Irish independence. The Volunteers were 
insulted, their Bill was rejected without a hearing, their 
intentions were calumniated, even their name was repro¬ 
bated ; their services were forgotten, and that very 
corruption which they sought to reform thus had its full 
revenge. 

Mr. Connolly—that weak, obstinate, and most incon¬ 
sistent of the Irish Whigs, whom family and fortune 
alone could have raised from obscurity, endeavoured to 
give a finishing blow to that virtuous association,* which, 
in the same place, he had so often eulogised. He now 
explicitly denounced the Volunteers as enemies to that 
Constitution which they had obtained for their country, 
and which he afterwards surrendered to the Ministers, 
against whose measures he had arrayed himself on every 
important occasion. 

This too great confidence of the Volunteers, in the 
success of their measures had thus led them too rapidly 
into a proceeding that required the most deliberate con¬ 
sideration. The refusal of Parliament to receive their 
Bill created a sensation which, for a moment, left the 
peace of Ireland on the very brink of a precipice. Lord 
Charlemont mistook his fears for his prudence , the Volun¬ 
teers mistook their resentment for their patriotism, both 
were disposed to extremities, and some decisive crisis 
appeared absolutely inevitable. That great and patriotic 
army, which had the year before received the unanimous 
thanks of the Parliament, were, by the motion of a Whig, 
nearly denounced as rebels and little less than a declara¬ 
tion of war against them was voted, even without a 
division in the Parliament. 

VII. By this fatal dilemma, resistance or dissolution 

* After the division, Mr. Connolly moved, “That an humble address 
be presented to his Majesty, to declare the perfect satisfaction we feel, 
and the blessings we enjoy under his Majesty’s most auspicious Govern¬ 
ment, and our present happy constitution.” “ And that, at this time, we 
feel it peculiarly incumbent on us to declare our resolution to support 
the same with our lives and fortunes.” 

This was an unequivocal attack upon the Vo! inteers • it was carried 
26 


302 


RISE AND FALL 


alone remained to the Convention. The most in elligent 
of that body determined that a day or two should Ixj 
taken to reflect on the best course of proceeding. But 
Lord Charlemont dreaded the consequence of discussion, 
and decided rather to betray his trust than hazard insur¬ 
rection, and to adopt the safer step of dissolving the 
Convention. 

It is not easy to describe the uneasiness and deep 
solicitude of the Convention pending that debate. Re¬ 
porters were perpetually passing and repassing between 
the two assemblies ; the impatience of the Volunteers was 
rising into a storm; Earl Charlemont, overwhelmed by 
his apprehension, saw no course but to induce them to 
adjourn; they, however, waited till long after midnight, 
in a state between anger and anxiety. Lord Charlemont 
did not oppose, but he duped them. He received a note 
from the House of Commons, which he said left no hopes 
of a speedy decision, and he had the address and influence 
to induce the Convention to adjourn till Monday morning 
at the usual hour, then to decide upon ulterior measures, 
if their Bill should be rejected. But his Lordship had 
secretly determined that they should meet no more ; the 
death of the Convention was pronounced by their 
adjournment; and the honest, patriotic, but feeble Char- 
lemoiit, on the Monday morning began to extinguish that 
institution to which he owed his celebrity, and to paralyze 
that proud popular spirit to which alone Ireland was in¬ 
debted for its constitution and independence. 

VIII. Sunday was passed between his indecision and 
his timidity. In his weak and virtuous mind, pride and 
patriotism were ranged on the one side; but imbecility 
and a sense of incapacity to meet the crisis, blinded him 
to the nature of that insidious conduct, which on this, 
and perhaps the only occasion of his life, he meditated 
against his benefactors. 

He had a meeting of a few of his friends, most of whom 
had the same sensations as himself. The Bishop of Derry 
and Mr. Flood appeared like daring spectres to his 
imagination; he dreaded to meet them at the Convention, 
and after much deliberation, he decided on a course which 
detracted from his reputation, and for which even the cri- 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


303 


heal situation of the country could not allow him one 
point of justification. 

On the Monday morning he repaired to the Rotunda, 
before the usual hour of sitting. None but his own 
immediate partisans were aware of his intention; the 
meeting was expected to be most important, and the 
Delegates had no suspicion of his Lordship’s early atten¬ 
dance. 

On his taking the chair, a Delegate immediately arose 
to expatiate on the insults which the Convention had 
leceived during the debate of Saturday. His Lordship 
oecame alarmed; a protracted statement might give time 
for the arrival of Delegates, when all his objects would 
surely be frustrated. He at once took a step which had 
scarcely a parallel for duplicity, and which, though of the 
shallowest nature, proved the most effectual. 

He instantly silenced the member, as being out of 
order, on the ground that one House of Parliament never 
could take notice of what passed in another; and that 
the Convention had adopted the rules and orders of Par¬ 
liament. 

Thus by collecting every ray of feebleness and absur¬ 
dity into one focus, he prevented any continuation of the 
subject; and whilst he declared the Convention a House 
of Parliament, resolved to terminate its existence. 

IX. After some conversation, a farewell address was 
rapidly passed to his Majesty, and his Lordship boldly 
adjourned the Convention —sine die. The Rotunda was 
quickly vacated, and when the residue of the Delegates, 
the ardent friends of the Volunteer body, came to take 
their places, they found the doors closed, the Chairman 
withdrawn, and that body upon which the nation relied 
for its independence dissolved for ever. 

The Delegates mortified and abashed, returned to their 
homes; many friends of Earl Charlemont were soon 
ashamed of their conduct; and his Lordship’s want of 
sincerity, for the first time was indisputably proved, and 
underwent well-merited animadversions. 

The Volunteer Delegates having returned to their con 
stituents, could give but a puerile account either of their 
proceedings or of their Chairman. Every eye now 
turned on tin* Earl of Bristol, who became the idol of 


504 


RISE AND PALL 


the people. Whilst Lord Charlemont gently desc nd«d 
into the placid ranks of order and of courtesy, the Bishop 
rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the Convention. 
Tiie Volunteer Corps in many districts beat to arms ; they 
paraded, they deliberated, but their bond of union was 
enfeebled or dissevered. 

Amongst the weaknesses of Lord Charlemont, he had 
an odious tinge of bigotry, and was decidedly opposed to 
the admission of Catholics to the full enjoyment of the 
Constitution. The Bishop, with more zeal and much 
greater abilities was their warmest advocate. 

Exclusion on the one side, and toleration on the other 
became the theme of both. The dispute ran high ; par¬ 
tisans were not wanting, the people began to separate; 
and this unfortunate controversy gradually terminated in 
that fatal dissension which never ceased to divide the Irish 
nation, and at length effected all the objects of mischief 
that the most ruthless enemies of the Irish could hav« 
expected, or have even wished. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


^»5 


CHAPTER X X. 

Celebrated Address of the Volunteers to the Bishop—Reply of the 
Bishop—Some thought the Bishop’s answer too strong—A new Bill 
suggested—New measures of Earl Charlemont—Decline of the Vol¬ 
unteers—Insincerity of the concessions—Cupidity of English traders 
—Sordid interest absorbed her justice—Commercial treaty and tariff 
proposed—Commercial propositions—Mr. Pitt’s duplicity—Magnifi¬ 
cence of the Irish Court—The Propositions rejected—Mr. Brownlow 
opposes the eleven propositions—Passed the Commons—Mr. Pitt 
proposes twenty propositions—Embarrassment of the Secretary — 
Most violent debates in the Irish Parliament—The Minister virtually 
defeated—The treaty ended—Defeat of the treaty effected by the coun¬ 
try gentlemen—Mr. Forbes a leading member of the House of Com¬ 
mons—Mr. Hardy—Mr. Carleton, Solicitor General—His singular 
character. 

I. After this fatal event, the Volunteers became less 
calm and more unguarded. The address of one regi¬ 
ment to the Bishop of Derry, forms an interesting fea¬ 
ture of Irish history, and it gave rise to a reply, such as 
had not been ventured upon by any public character in 
either country. 

A northern corps, of considerable strength, had adopted 
the patriotic title of the “ Bill of Rights Battalion,” and 
had entered into resolutions to “ support their conslitu 
tion, or be buried under its ruins.” A large detachment 
of that corps marched from their county, determined to 
uphold the Bishop’s principles, and support his measures, 
with their lives and fortunes. The address and the 
answer are strongly illustrative of the spirit of the times, 
and the embarrassment of the Cabinet. 

This declaration ran like wild fire throughout the 
nation. The last sentence was the boldest and most un¬ 
equivocal, the most daring and decisive, used in Ireland. 
A British Earl and Irish Bishop, of great wealth, learn¬ 
ing, abilities, and of unbounded popular influence, risking 
his fortune, and perhaps his life, in support of Ireland, 
was in every respect a phenomenon. 

26* 


306 


RISE AND FALL 


His Lordship’s desire to put himself at the head of the 
Irish nation wrs no longer doubtful, and well was he 
calculated to lead it to every extremity. All men were 
now convinced that, had his Lordship been President of 
the National Convention, the moderate and courtly 
Charlemont must either have submitted to his standard, 
or have sunk into nihility. 

“ BILL OF RIGHTS BATTALION. 

“ Resolved—That the following Address be presented 
from this Battalion, under arms , to the Earl of Bristol, 
Lord Bishop of Derry, for his truly patriotic exertions in 
support of our rights and liberties:— 

< To the Right Honourable the Earl of Bristol , Lord 

Bishop of Derry. The A ddress of the Bill of Rights 

Battalion of Volunteers. 

“ My Lord,— Having, with the eye of silent approba¬ 
tion, viewed your conduct, in every stage of its progress, 
at the Grand National Convention of Volunteer Dele¬ 
gates, we are impelled, by those generous sentiments 
that actuate the breasts of Irishmen, to otfer your Lord- 
ship this Address, as a mark of affection and of gratitude. 

“ We see, with indignation and concern, the treatment 
which the wise, spirited, and salutary Resolutions of the 
Volunteer Convention have received; but we trust the 
virtuous efforts of a united people, under the auspices of 
your Lordship, will cleanse the Augean stable—the 
noisome stalls of venality and corruption. 

“ The gloomy clouds of superstition and bigotry , those 
engines of disunion , being fled the realm, the intrests of 
Ireland can no longer suffer by a diversity of religious 
persuasions. All are united in the pursuit of one great 
object—ihe extermination of corruption from our Con¬ 
stitution; nor can your Lordship and your virtuous 
coadjutors, in promoting civil and religious liberty, be 
destitute of the aid of all professions. 

“ Permit us 10 assure you that as freemen, freeholders, 
and as Volunteers, our exertions to effectuate the grand 
work of reformation, shall be as strenuous as the aim is 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


307 


important: and that we are, with unfeigned gratitude 
and attachment, your Lordship’s most faithful friends. 
a Signed, by order of the Battalion, 

“JOHN ORR, Sec.” 

A detachment from the Battalion, consisting of eighty 
rank and file, headed by their lieutenant-colonel, waited 
on his Lordship, on the 14th instant, at Downhill, and 
presented, under arms , their Address: to which his 
Lordship was pleased to give the subsequent reply:— 

“ Gentlemen.— When you acknowledged the services 
of your fellow-citizens, in the County of Antrim, in the 
late struggle for liberty , you rewarded their toils in that 
coin most valuable to virtuous men; and your approba¬ 
tion of their efforts, in some measure, consoled them for 
their want of success. 

“ But, when you step forth from your own county, to 
hail the individual of another, unknown to you but by 
his honest endeavours, and unconnected, except by that 
kindred spirit which seems now, at length, to pervade 
the whole body of Irishmen, and, like a Promethean fire, 
to animate a hitherto lifeless mass, the satisfaction excited 
m his mind, by the applauses of men who have a right 
to approve what they dare to support , can be known only 
to those who are conscious of deserving what they are 
fortunate enough to receive. 

“ When the conscience of a patriot bears testimony to 
the truth of the panegyric, and the sincerity of the pane¬ 
gyrists’ praise ceases to be adulation, then they become 
the wholesome food of a manly mind, and nourish that 
virtue they were, at first, intended only to approve. 

“ But, gentlemen, those who dare assert their own 
rights, should rise above the mean policy of violating the 
rights of others. 

“ There is, in this island, a class of citizens equally 
respectable, and infinitely more numerous than those who 
have hitherto oppressed them— 

“ Men who have long crouched under the iron rod of 
their oppressors, not from any dastardly insensibility to 
their shackles—not from any unmanly indifference to the 
inalienable rights of men; but from a pious dread of 


308 


RISE AND FALL 


wounding our common country through the sides of its 
tyrants — 

“ Men, in whose hearts beats at this instant as high a 
pulse for liberty, and through whose veins pours a tide 
of as pure blood, and as noble too, as any that animates 
the proudest citizen in Ireland— 

“ Men, whose ancestors, at the hazard of their property, 
and with the loss of their lives, obtained the first great 
Bill of Rights, and upon which every other must be 
founded—the Magna Charta of Ireland— 

“ Men, whose ancestors, in the midst of ignorance, 
could distinguish between the duties of a religionist and 
the rights of a citizen, and who enacted those elementary 
and never obsolete statutes of praemunire, which, for 
centuries, have been an irrefragable monument of their 
sagacity in distinguishing, and their fortitude in severing, 
their duty to the Church of Rome from their dependence 
on its Court — 

“ Men, the undegenerate progeny of such virtuous 
ancestors, who, with a firmness worthy of our imitation, 
and still more worthy of our gratitude, have endured 
those very outrages from their country which their fore¬ 
fathers spurned at from its sovereign , and who, under a 
series of accumulated wrongs, which would heighten the 
disgrace of human policy if they could be paralleled in 
its annals, have with a fortitude as unexampled as their 
oppression, allowed every thing dear to the human heart 
to be wrecked, except their religion and their patriotism, 
except their acquiescence to the will of an inscrutable 
God, and their affection for a mistaken and deluded 
country.. 

“ But, Gentlemen, the hour is now come, when sound 
policy, as well as irresistible justice will compel those 
who demand their own rights, to support their claim by 
a restitution of those of their fellow citizens. 

' “ When Ireland must necessarily avail herself of her 
whole internal force to ward off foreign encroachments, 
or once more acquiesce under those encroachments, the 
better to exercise anew the tyranny of a j)art of the com¬ 
munity over the dearest and inalienable rights of others. 

u For one million of divided Protestants can never, in 
the scale of human government, be a c( unterpoise against 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


_ 309 


throe millions of united Catholics. But. Gentlemen ol 
the Bill of Rights Battalion, I appeal to yourselves, and 
summon you to consistency— Tyranny is not Govern¬ 
ment, and Allegiance is due only to Protection 

“ BRISTOL.” 

“ 14 th January , 1784.” 

II. The Government now became seriously alarmed. 
Never was any government in greater difficulty. Yarious 
were its advisers at this important moment; those in 
council, whose arrogance and arbitrary feelings generally 
outweighed their prudence, strongly enforced the most 
dangerous of all measures, the immediate arrest of the 
Bishop. They contended that, by such energy, and by 
at once depriving the Volunteers of so enthusiastic a 
partisan, they might check their progress ; but they never 
reflected on the utter inability of Government to enforce 
that resolution. 

The daring and dangerous strength of the Bishop’s 
language, the glaring light which by the last sentence, 
was thrown upon the conditional terms of allegiance, as 
settled under the precedent of 1680, though totally inap¬ 
plicable to the Irish nation, or to the state of its connec¬ 
tion with Great Britain, astounded all men. But the 
Government soon perceived the inevitable convulsion 
which must have attended so violent a step as Fitzgibbon 
had recommended. It would have been the signal for 
100,000 Volunteers rushing to the rescue, and one week 
would have produced an insurrection, the smallest spark 
would now have inflamed the nation. 

The Government resolved to watch the progress of 
events over which control might be impossible. This 
course fully corresponded with their utmost expectations. 

Many of the most patriotic Volunteers thought the ad¬ 
dress of the Bishop true in principle, but too strong in 
terms, particularly as it was addressed to an armed corps, 
in the centre of thousands who could not fail to kindle 
at the Promethean lire with which his Lordship had so 
classically animated his oration. 

The idea of coercing the Parliament very rapidly lost 
ground, and in a short time it became the general opinion, 
»hat Mr. Flood’s Reform Bill had been opposed by many 


310 


RISE AND FALL 


upon the principle, that it was rather a command than a 
solicitation ; and that it would be prudent to give the 
Parliament a fair trial before they absolutely condemned 
them. It Was thought that the objection being removed, 
by the dissolution of the National Convention, a new bid 
should be presented in the ordinary course of parlia¬ 
mentary proceedings, by members solely in their civil 
character, and the disposition of the House and the re¬ 
solves of Government be thus fairly ascertained. 

The people were severed, but the Government remain¬ 
ed compact; the Parliament was corrupted, the Volun¬ 
teers were paralyzed, and the high spirit of the nation 
exhibited a rapid declension. The jealousy of patriots 
is always destructive of liberty. 

III. A new event, however, soon proved the weak de¬ 
lusions of Earl Charlemont. At the dissolution of the 
Convention, he recommended a Reform Bill to be pre¬ 
sented to Parliament, as emanating solely from civil 
bodies, unconnected with military character.* Every 
experiment is silly, where its failure can be clearly anti 
cipated, and almost every man in Ireland well knew, that 
such a bill would be lost in such a Parliament. Mr. 
Flood, however, tried the experiment, and it failed; he 
attempted it without spirit, because he was without con¬ 
fidence. Mr. Grattan supported it with languor, because 
it was the measure of his rival. The military bill had 
been scouted, because it was military, and the civil bill 
was rejected because it was popular. A corrupt senate 
never wants a vicious apology. 

The Volunteers now drooped, yet their resolutions 
were published, their meetings were not suspended, and 
their reviews continued; but these appeared only as boy¬ 
ish shows, to amuse the languid vanity of their deluded 
general. He passed their lines in military state; he re¬ 
ceived their salutes with grace and condescension, and 
recommended them to be tranquil and obedient; and, 
after a peaceable campaign of four hours duration, com¬ 
posed his mild and grammatical despatches, and returned 

* The decided opinion of the whole Bar, after a long and solemn dis¬ 
cussion, was that the Volunteers, as an armed body, had not divested 
themselves of any civil right polifcal or personal. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


311 


to his Marino, and to the enjoyment of the more conge- 
nial elegancies of literature and of private friendships. 

The temperate system now gained ground; some 
patriots lost their energy, others lost their influence, and 
the Government experienced the wisdom of their nega¬ 
tive measures. 

That noble institution, the Volunteers of Ireland, sur¬ 
vived, however, these blows some years. This only 
luminary of her sphere was, by the devices of the Govern¬ 
ment. gradually obscured, and, at length extinguished ! ! 

IV. Lt was not supposed that the concessions to Ireland 
had been voluntary on the part of Great Britain. They 
were only a sacrifice to circumstances, with the mental 
reservation of acting upon the original principle, as often 
as events might facilitate such a proceeding. The egotis¬ 
tical character of the English trader, the avarice insepa- 
ble from mercantile education, and the national impa¬ 
tience, under even an ideal rivalship, united in exciting 
every effort to neutralize the concessions; and it soon 
became palpable to both nations, that the free trade ol 
Ireland might prove a sore impediment 1o the gratifica¬ 
tions of the English monopoly. England could not so 
suddenly renounce the force of ancient habit, and of en¬ 
grafted prejudices, and become, at once, liberal, enlight¬ 
ened, and magnanimous. No person conversant with 
the ruling principles of mankind, could suppose that her 
very nature could change in a day, and that she could be 
sincere towards Ireland, as long as it was imagined that 
the two countries had repugnant interests. 

The insatiable cupidity of British capitalists, and the 
necessities of the British Government, had commenced 
their coalition even against the prosperity of England. 
The extravagance of the Government Avas supplied with 
facility, by the usuries of the monied interest, and a rein 
wa.: given to that boundless waste of public money, 
which terminated in an overwhelming debt, and which 
nearly exhausted financial ingenuity, having not utifro- 
quently assailed the principles and safeguards of her own 
Constitution. 

These concessions were likewise rendered peculiarly 
unpalatable, by political circumstances. England, at that 
gloomy epoch, had not been able to retain one dish* 


812 


RISE AND FALL 


ferestea friend or sincere ally in Europe. She had sub¬ 
sidized German mendicants , and she had purchased 
human blood, she had hired military slaves from beggarly 
principalities; but these were not alliances for the honour 
of Great Britain. 

The character which England had justly acquired 
previously to the year 1780, had raised her reputation 
above that of all the powers of Europe. The new attempt 
on Ireland, proclaimed that her sordid interests nov^ ab¬ 
sorbed every other consideration. 

V. The minister’s only excuse for his schemes, was the 
pecuniary wants of Government. But Mr. Pitt feared 
that Ireland would murmur at paying her portion of his 
profuse extravagance. Taxation commenced on luxuries, 
proceeded to comforts, to necessaries, and, at length, ex¬ 
tended its grasp to justice and morality. A treaty for a 
commercial tariff between the two nations was now pro¬ 
ceeded on, and exposed that duplicity which had been 
scarcely suspected. The Irish, unaccustomed to receive 
any concession or favour, and little versed in the schemes 
of commercial polity, gave a giddy confidence to the 
dignified terms in which their claims had been acknow¬ 
ledged. Some able men, however, reasoned that the very 
composition of British Cabinets, the means of getting into 
power, and of keeping it; their private interests, and 
public object, were decidedly adverse to any liberal parti¬ 
cipation of commercial advantages with Ireland. Upon 
the English monopolists alone, ministers could depend 
for replenishing their Exchequer, and for their retaining 
their power. Men also reasoned, that, if England and 
Ireland should clash on any point of commerce, a British 
Parliament could not serve two conflicting interests, and 
an Irish Parliament was not likely to surrender rights 
she had obtained with so much difficulty and danger. 

It was, therefore, palpable (as Mr. Fox had mysteriously 
declared) that some further international measures were 
absolutely necessary, and as Ireland could now legislate 
for her own commerce with all the world, it seemed advi* 
sable, that a commercial treaty should be contracted by 
the two countries, which might provide against any col¬ 
lision, and secure to both nations the advantages of *hf 
federal compact. 


IRK IRISH NATION. 


313 


Nothing could be more plausible than the theory of 
tliis measure, and few things more difficult to carry into 
execution. 

VI. The detailed debates, on these commercial pro¬ 
positions are beyond the range of this compact history.* 
But it is essential to remark upon them with reference to 
the conduct of Great Britain, and it may be proper to 
allude to the state of Ireland, at the moment selected by 
the minister for making the first indirect attempt to re¬ 
capture the independence of that devoted country. 

The Irish nation was rapidly advancing to eminence 
and prosperity, her commerce improving, her debt light, 
the taxes inconsiderable, emigration had ceased, and 
population was augmenting, nearly two hundred nobles, 
and nearly all the commoners, resided on their demesnes 
and expended their rents amidst those who paid them. 
The Parliament seemed to have been awakened to a more 
sedulous attention to the wishes of the people. Mr. Pitt 
took advantage of the moment he saw that the nation was 
in good humour and grateful, and he determined, whilst 
he flattered their vanity to invade their constitution. The 
state of the Irish court and aristocracy, at this period, 
seemed particularly favourable to the experiment. The 
constant residence of the landed proprietors was an incal¬ 
culable benefit; and their influence, in mitigating the 
avarice of the clergy and the irritating tyranny of the 
tithing system, was most grateful to the people. 

The vice-regal establishment was at that period much 
more brilliant and hospitable than that of the monarch; 
the utmost magnificence signalized the entertainments of 
the Duke and Duchess cf Paitland, and their luxury gave 
a powerful impulse to mrnafactures and industry. It was 
to be regretted howevv-.. that this magnificence was 
accompanied by circumstances which formed anewopoch 

* The debates of the Irish Parliament upon these propositions, were 
taken with very considerable accuracy by Woodfall, and published by 
Byrne, in Dublin. Thevare valuable for disclosing the polifeal charac¬ 
ters and talents of nearly all the men of note, then members of the Irish 
Commons. Scarcely any other document better depicts the arrogant and 
decided character of Mr. Fitzgibbon which distinguished him through all 
the subsequent concerns of Ireland, until, in a characteristic attempt to 
lord it over the British Peerage, he was politically slain by the Duke of 
Bedford. 


314 


RISE AND FAL1 


m the habits of Irish society: a laxity of decorum in. b^sth 
sexes of the fashionable aristocracy, had commenced, and 
though the voluptuous brilliancy of the Court was dazzling 
to the country, it was deficient in that proud, elevated 
dignity which had generally distinguished that society in 
former vice-royalties. Nothing could be more honourable 
than the conduct of the Duke of Rutland ; but the sudden 
relaxation of manners at his Court, was by no means 
gratifying to those who had been accustomed to the unde- 
viating strictness of decorum amongst the Irish ladies.* 

This paroxysm of joy throughout the country, confidence 
amongst the gentry, and absence of suspicion in the Par¬ 
liament, was judged by the British Government the oppor¬ 
tunity most favourable, under colour of her commerce to 
undermine her Constitution. This proposition for a 
treaty of commerce between England and Ireland, as two 
independent countries, necessarily required a deeper con¬ 
sideration than any other event of her history. No 
decisive international overt act had, as yet, taken place 
between the two countries. But Mr. Pitt, in his anxiety 
to encroach upon the independent spirit of the compact, 
unintentionally confirmed it upon a clear international 
principle. 

Mr. Orde, the Secretary of the Viceroy, on the 7th of 
February, 1785, proposed to the Irish Parliament eleven 
resolutions, as a distinct commercial treaty between two 
independent states. As such they were received, but 
the treaty was at length utterly rejected by the Irish 
Parliament. 

Mr. Brownlow, one of the first country gentlemen of 
Ireland, most zealously opposed it as a badge of slavery, 
and an attempt to encroach on the independence of his 
country. It was, however, conditionally accepted, aftei 
much discussion; during which a manoeuvre was practised 
by the Secretary, which would have disgraced the lowest 
trader. Mr. Orde expatiated with great plausibility 
upon the kind concessions of the English Government, 

* Before this period, there had been but two actions of crim. con. in 
Ireland, in both of which noblemen were the plaintiffs; Lord Belvidere 
against his brother Captain Rochfort, an * 1 Lord Lisle against Dennis 
M‘Carthy, his own postillion. There bad. however, been several hun¬ 
dreds tried in England. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


315 


and the extraordinary advantages likely to result to 
Ireland ; and urged the House to come to a hasty decision 
in their favour, “ lest the English monopolist should pour 
in applications to the English Parliament to stop their 
progress, as too partial to Ireland.” The bait took, and 
the resolutions were approved, and sent hack with some 
alterations. 

His artifice, however, was defeated, and Mr. Orde was 
left in a situat ion of excessive embarrassment and appeared 
equally ridiculous to both countries. Mr. Pitt having 
gained his first point, conceived it possible to assail more 
openly the independence of Ireland, by attaching her 
finances and commerce to Great Britain, so that her own 
Parliament should become, if not impotent, at least con¬ 
temptible. 

Instead, therefore of rediscussing the eleven resolutions 
its approved by Ireland, he brought twenty propositions 
before the English Parliament, incorporated in a Bil 
framed with such consummate artifice, that it atfected to 
confer favours, whilst it rendered the Irish Parliament 
only the register of all English statutes relating to com¬ 
merce ; and, by a perpetual money bill, appropriated a 
proportion of her hereditary revenue to the uses of the 
British Navy. 

VII. Mr. Orde* himself was utterly uncertain how to 
proceed, and after many adjournments, on the 12th of 
August, 1785, he moved for leave to bring in a Bil) 
pursuant to Mr Pitt’s twenty propositions. The country 
gentlemen of Ireland, though they did not understand the 
commercial details of the subject, perceived the design 
of the minister. A storm arose in Parliament, the 
landed interests of the country were alarmed, the country 
gentlemen grew boisterous, the law officers were arrogant, 
the patriots retorted, and rendered the debate one ot the 
most inflammatory that had for some years been witnessed 

* Mr. Orde, the Secretary, a cold, cautious, slow, and sententious 
m~n, tolerably well informed, but not at all talented, had a mind neithei 
powerful nor feeble; as a public man he could not be despised, as an Eng¬ 
lish Factor, he could plausibly enhance the property he was entrusted to 
dispose of, though he well knew there was a rent within its folds, lie 
had much to .gain, for of political reputation he had nothing to be de¬ 
prived. He certainly did as much as could be effected on the subject, and 
* British peerage coupled him for his Irish discomfiture. 


316 


RISE AND FALL 


Long and furious was that remarkable contest. Fitz^ ibbon 
the Attorney General, exhibited an arrogance which 
more than equalled any of his former exhibitions; he 
insulted many, and used the most overbearing language 
to all who opp( sed him. The debate continued all night, 
and, at nine o’clock next morning, the violence was 
undiminished, and it was difficult to put the question: at 
length a division at once announced the equivocal victory 
of the Minister. The numbers for Government were 127, 
against the Minister 108, leaving only a majority of 19. 
As the motion was only for leave to bring in the Bill, it 
was obvious that on a second reading it would have been 
disgracefully rejected. Mr. Flood then moved a decla¬ 
ration of rights; another division still less favourable 
to the Minister succeeded; an adjournment, therefore, 
and a prorogation took place, and the subject was never 
renewed. 

Mr. Pitt never would have brought in his Bill, had he 
not been assured of success by the Irish Secretary; this 
defeat, therefore, was the more galling, and it confirmed, 
in his persevering and inflexible mind, a determination, if 
he could not rule the Irish Parliament, to annihilate the 
independence of Ireland. Mr. Pitt never was scrupulous 
as to means, and a much more important point shortly 
confirmed his determination by proving that, upon vital 
(/objects he had not yet sufficiently humbled the people, 
t>f been able sufficiently to seduce their representatives. 

These propositions were in fact defeated by the honest 
obstinacy of the country gentlemen, and by the influence 
and talents of Mr. Grattan and Mr. Flood, who, upon 
this subject alone, were perfectly in unison. It is worthy 
of observation, that the zeal and honesty of Mr. Con¬ 
nolly, in supporting the independence of his country 
against the agency of Mr. Orde, were utterly reversed 
by his subsequently supporting the still more destructive 
measures of his corrupt and unfortunate relative. 

VIII. During these scenes, some men, who, though 
not of the highest order of talent, were in considerable 
reputation and of untainted integrity, exerted themselves 
in defence of their country; amongst them, the most 
active was Mr. Forbes, the Member for Drogheda. 
Without any very distinguished natural abilities, and bui 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 317 

moderately acquainted with literature, by his zealous at 
tachment to Mr. Grattan, his public principles, and atten¬ 
tion to business, he received much respect, and acquired 
some influence in the House of Commons. He had 
practised at the bar with a probability of success ; but he 
mistook his course, and became a statesman, as which 
he never could rise to any great distinction. As a 
lawyer, he undervalued himself and was modest; as a 
stateman, he over-rated himse f, and was presumptuous 
He benefitted his party by his indefatigable zeal, and re¬ 
flected honour upon it by his character ; he was a good 
Irishman, and to the last undeviating in his public prin¬ 
ciples. He died in honourable exile, as Governor of the 
Bahama Isles. 

In a class lower as a politician, but higher as a man of 
letters, and equal in integrity, stood Mr. Hardy, the bio¬ 
grapher of Earl Charlemont. He had been returned to 
Parliament by the interest of Earl Granard, and faith¬ 
fully followed the fortunes of that nobleman and his rela¬ 
tive, Earl Moira, throughout all the political vicissitudes 
of Ireland. 

His mind was too calm, and his habits too refined, foi 
the rugged drudgery of the bar—he was not sufficiently 
profound for a statesman, and was too mild for a political 
wrangler—his ambition was languid, and he had no love 
of lucre—he therefore was not eminent either as a poli 
tician or a lawyer. Like many other modest and accom¬ 
plished men he was universally esteemed. He had suf¬ 
ficient talents, had he possessed energy, and his interest 
was always the last of his considerations ; his means 
were narrow, and his exertions inconsiderable. 

IX. Mr. (afterwards Viscount) Carleton, was, during a 
part of this important period, Solicitor General of Ireland, 
and no man was less adequate to the parliamentary 
duties of that office. He was, of course, but little noticed 
by the recorders of that epoch ; and is almost a dead 
letter in the memoirs of Ireland. His conduct on the 
Union, however, was remarkable. 

Viscount Carleton was the son of a respectable mer¬ 
chant of Cork, and was created Solicitor General when 
the superior law offices were considered as stations of 
very considerable weight, and of mucli official dignity 
27 * 


318 


RISE AND FALL 


At the bar he was efficient; on the bench he was exem¬ 
plary. With a plain and exclusively forensic talent, cul¬ 
tivated by an assiduity nothing could surpass, he attain¬ 
ed very considerable professional eminence : his whole 
capacity seemed to have been formed into points of law. 
regularly numbered, and always ready for use. His 
limited genius seldom wandered beyond the natural 
boundary; but whenever it chanced to stray to general 
subjects, it appeared always to return to its symmetrical 
technicalities with great gratfication. 

Habit and application had made him a singular pro¬ 
ficient in that methodical hair-splitting of legal distinc¬ 
tions, and in reconciling the incongruity of conflicting 
precedents, which generally beget the reputation of an 
able lawyer. The government were glad to get him out 
of Parliament, and without intending it, did an essential 
service to the due administration of justice. 

As Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, his naturally 
gentle manners and affability, his legal knowledge, and 
the rectitude of his decisions, procured him the unani¬ 
mous approbation of his profession. He had no enemies. 
But, even in his prime, he was a most feeble and ineffi¬ 
cient legislator and statesman ; his capacity was not suf¬ 
ficiently comprehensive to embrace subjects of constitu¬ 
tional polity. He brought the attributes of his trade into 
Parliament, and appeared either blind or indifferent to 
those varied and luxuriant labyrinths which the princi¬ 
ples of civil liberty eternally disclose, and which the 
enlightened legislator never fails to discover, and never 
ceases to enjoy. 

When men shall read the childish, contemptible, and 
strained attempts at reasoning, which were pronounced 
by him upon the-discussion of the Union, and reflect upon 
the duplicity of his professions, and his predetermined 
emigration, it must be regretted, that a judge so compe¬ 
tent and indipendent, and a man so respected, should 
have yielded his country against his conviction, and lent 
his fair fame to the Corrupting Minister.* 

* After Lord Carleton had supported the Union, he was suffered to 
retire, on the ground of declining health, on a magnificent pension. Ha 
immediately emigrated to London, and lived in excellent health and spii 
its for four-and-t went y yea^s 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


319 


CHAPTER XXI. 

Dea.h of tne Duke of Rutland—Marquis of Buckingham’s second Gov¬ 
ernment— The question of a Regency—Mr. Pitt’s conduct—The 
Prince submitted to the restraints—The Irish resisted, and refused to 
restrain him—Unprecedented case—Collision between the two Parlia¬ 
ments—Round Robin—Irish address to the Prince—Sketch of the 
Arguments on the Regency question in Ireland—Constitutional state 
of both nations—Conduct of the nations contrasted—Reasons for the 
Irish Parliament proceeding by Address, and not by Statute, to appoint 
a Regent—Question whether the Parliaments of England or Ireland 
had committed a breach of the Constitution—Threats of the Viceroy— 
The Round Robin—Viceroy determined to retire—Reception of the 
Irish delegates by the Prince—Address of the Irish Parliament to the 
Prince—Reply of the Prince, eulogizing the Irish legislature—After¬ 
wards neglected. 

/. The British Government, for a short time, affected to 
relinquish the idea of opposing the commercial interests 
of Ireland. It was determined to let the Irish take their 
own course, and patiently to await, till circumstances 
might enable them to act more decisively against their 
independence. 

Mr. Pitt was obliged to rest upon his oars: his own 
hark was tempest tossed, whilst that of Ireland was run¬ 
ning rapidly before a prosperous wind. This was the state 
of Ireland after the proposition-tempest had subsided, 
when the Duke of Rutland’s incessant conviviality deprived 
(October, 1787) the British Peerage of an honourable, 
generous, and high-minded nobleman, and Ireland of a 
Viceroy, whose government did nothing, or worse than 
nothing, for the Irish people. With the aristocracy, the 
Duke was singularly popular, and he was not disliked by 
any class of the community; but his advisers were pro¬ 
fligate, and his measures were corrupt. His Grace and 
the Duchess were reckoned the handsomest couple in 
Ireland. 

The Marquis )f Buckingham was sent, a second time! 
to govern Ireland. As a moderate, hard-working Viceroy 


320 


RISE AND FALL 


with a Catholic wife, he was selected, as not unlikely to 
be agreeable to the Irish. 

Little, however, was it supposed, that the most impor¬ 
tant and embarrassing of all constitutional questions be¬ 
tween the two countries was likely to occur during his 
administration. Unfortunately, however, such did arise, 
through the necessity of appointing a Regent during the 
Monarch’s aberration of intellect. 

This great question, and its influence on the federative 
compact of the two nations, now entirely occupied the 
attention of both Parliaments. The Prince, at that 
period, held a line of politics, and employed a class ot 
servants, different from those he afterwards adopted. 
Mr. Pitt well knew that his own reign, and that of the 
Cabinet he commanded, were in danger—that they could 
endure no longer than some tatters of the royal prero¬ 
gative and restraints on the Regent should remain in his 
hands as minister, by which he could curb the Regency, 
which might otherwise be fatal to his ambition and his 
cabinet. 

He therefore resisted, with all his energy, the heir- 
apparent’s right to the prerogatives of his father, and 
struggled to restrain the Prince from many of those 
essential powers of the executive authority. 

The Prince acted with that dignity of which he was 
so much a master, but, through a state necessity, sub¬ 
mitted reluctantly to the restraints prescribed by his own 
servants ; and, from a delicacy to the feeling of his 
mother, retained in his service a minister whom, on every 
other ground, he would have been more than justified in 
dismissing with indignation. 

The Irish nation had nothing to do with this private 
circumstance, and the Parliament would not obey the 
minister, or submit to the mandates of the British Go¬ 
vernment. They decided that the Prince was their 
Regent, in virtue of the federative compact; and they 
also determined that he should have all the regal prero¬ 
gatives connected with the monarchy of Ireland. 

Upon this subject debates arose, more embarrassing 
than any that had ever taken place in the Irish Parlia¬ 
ment. It was a casus omissus , both in the British Revo¬ 
lution of 1688, and in the Irish Constitution of 1782. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


321 


The question was, whether the Parliament of Ireland 
were competent, by address or otherwise, t< invest the 
Regent with more extensive privileges, as to Ireland, 
than the British Parliament had thought fit to entrust to 
him in England. 

II. This point was without precedent; but it was 
argued, that if an act of Parliament were necessary, no 
Regent could be appointed, for an act implied the ex¬ 
istence of the third estate, and the proper proceeding 
was, therefore, by address. The probability of His 
Majesty’s recovery had a powerful influence on placemen 
and official connections. The Marquis of Buckingham 
took a decisive part against the Prince, and made bold 
and hazardous attempts upon the rights of the Irish Par¬ 
liament. That body was indignant at his presumption, 
and he found it impossible to govern or control even the 
habitual supporters of every administration. Fitzgibbon, 
the Attorney General, was promised the seals, if he suc¬ 
ceeded for Mr. Pitt, and he even announced that every 
opponent should be made the victim of his suffrage. 
Lord Buckingham even threatened those who would not 
coincide with the British Parliament; the then powerful 
family of Ponsonby, decided supporters of Government, 
on this occasion seceded from the Marquis, and which 
gave rise to the famous and spirited Round Robin.* Many 
however, may be induced to ask, why it was expedient to 
be honest in a circle. 

After long and ardent debates, an address of the Irish 
Parliament was voted to the Prince, declaring him Regent 
of the Kingdom of Ireland, in as full , ample , and unquali¬ 
fied a manner as was enjoyed by his Royal Father. 

The words, though simple, were as comprehensive as 
the English language could make them. The terms are: 
“ Under the style and title of Prince Regent of Ireland, 
in the name and on behalf of his Majesty, to exercise and 
administer, according to the laws and constitution of this 
Kingdom, all regal powers, jurisdiction, and prerogatives 
to the Crown and Government thereof belonging” 

In the Commons, the Address was moved by Mr. 
Grattan, and was carried without a division. It was 

* That Round Robin was so decisive, that it was brought forward hi 
1800, as the mast powerful argument in favour of a i nion 


322 


RISE AND FALL 


moved in the Lords by the Earl of Charlemont, and wax, 
carried by a majority of only 19. Contents 45—Non- 
contents 26. 

In the Commons, the number upon Mr. Grattan’s Mo¬ 
tion, for thus transmitting the Address were—for the 
Motion, 130 : against it, 74. 

The Address having passed both the Lords and Com¬ 
mons, it was sent to the Viceroy to be transmitted to His 
Royal Highness. The Marquis of Buckingham peremp¬ 
torily refused acquiescence, and an embassy of two Lords 
and four Commoners,* was immediately appointed to hum¬ 
bly present the Address, in the name of the nation, to the 
Prince. A severe resolution of censure was then moved 
against the Lord Lieutenant, for a breach of official duty. 
It passed both Houses, and obliged him to quit the coun¬ 
try. Though his extensive patronage was craftily applied 
and had procured him many adherents, he never after¬ 
wards could make any head in the Irish Parliament. 
The Address was the boldest step yet taken by the Irish 
nation, and it brought the independence of Ireland to a 
practical issue. 

III. The vital importance of the Regency Question 
in consolidating the independence of the Irish Nation, 
and the fallacious influence which it afterwards afforded 
to the arguments for extinguishing that independence, 
offer considerations more grave and more comprehensive 
than any that have occurred since England, by the Re¬ 
nunciation Act, admitted her usurpation. 

The facts and reasoning on that subject are beyond the 
range of this volume—they are therefore here necessarily 
epitomised. However somewhat more than superficial 
detail is indispensable, to dispel that mist of mingled pre¬ 
judice and ignorance of the English people, which has 
never ceased to obscure from their view every clear pros¬ 
pect of the true state of Ireland, when she evinced her 
unqualified adherence to the genuine spirit of the consti¬ 
tution. 

In 1789 two branches of the legislature, the Peers and 
the Commons of Great Britain and of Ireland, were by 
common law originally, and by statute law, subsequently, 

* The Lords were, the Duke of Leinster and Lord Charlemont. Th€ 
Commons, Messrs. Connolly, J. >Neil, W. B. Ponsonby,and J. Stewart. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


323 


fcs distinct as those of any other independent nation. 
The third estate, the king, was common Monarch of. 
both ; the two crowns placed on the same brow were, by 
tiie common constitution, entailed for ever on the same 
dynasty: the executive power was united; the other 
branches utterly separate. 

IY. The King of both countries having become incapa¬ 
ble of executing his functio s for either—his eldest son 
and heir apparent to the t irone, in the full vigour of 
health and intellect, by the ii. capacity of his father, became 
the proper guardian of those two realms to the throne of 
which he was constitutionally to succeed. 

So circumstanced, the British minister who as such had 
no constitutional right to interfere with Ireland, thought 
proper, through the British Parliament, to shackle the 
Regency with restrictions, that deprived the executive 
oower in England of its constitutional prerogatives ; such 
a measure, if adopted by Ireland, would have left hei 
king incompetent, and her Regency imperfect, during 
the necessary suspension of the monarch’s capacity to 
govern. 

The Viceroy of Ireland, under the dictation of the Bri¬ 
tish minister, resisted the legislature of Ireland in its own 
course of appointing the same Regent; and a collision 
ensued: the Irish supporting, and the English curtailing, 
the constitutional prerogative of the executive branch of 
the constitution, in the office of Regent. 

Y. In this state of things, the session was opened on 
the 5th February by the Marquis of Buckingham, who, in 
his speech from the throne, informed the two houses of 
the severe indisposition with which the King was afflicted, 
and at the same time, acquainted them that he had 
directed all the documents respecting his Majesty’s health 
which could assist their deliberations to be laid before 
them. 

Mr. Fitzherbert, the secretary, then moved the house, 
that it should resol/e itself into a committee on the Mon¬ 
day sen'night , to take into consideration the state of his 
Majesty’s health. 

As the evident design of this delay was to prevent the 
Irish Parliament from coming to any resolutions relative 
to a Regency before the determinations of the British 


324 


RISE AND FALL 


Parliament could be proposed to them for their concur, 
rence, it was opposed as derogatory to the independence 
of that Kingdom, and to the dignity and credit of ils 
Parliament. Mr. Grattan therefore proposed that—“the 
House should meet on the next Wednesday.” His amend¬ 
ment, after a long and warm debate, was carried by a 
majority of 128 to 74. A motion made by the Chancel¬ 
lor of the Exchequer for proceeding immediately upon the 
business of supply , was negatived. 

YI. On Wednesday the 11th, Mr. Connolly moved, 
that “ an address should be presented to the Prince of 
Wales, requesting him to take on himself the Government 
of Ireland, as Regent thereof during his Majesty’s inca¬ 
pacity,” (without any restriction.) 

This motion gave rise to a long and violent debate, in 
which the Attorney General, Mr. Fitzgibbon (afterwards 
Chancellor of Ireland) eminently distinguished himself in 
opposition to the motion. It was supported by Mr. 
Grattan, Mr. Ponsonby, Mr. Curran, and other eminent 
speakers, and was ultimately carried without a division. 

On Monday the 16th, the House of Lords being met, 
the Earl of Charlemont moved for an address to the 
Prince of Wales similar to that voted by the Commons, 
which, after some debate, was carried by a majority of 
nineteen. A protest was entered signed by seventeen 
Lords. 

On Thursday the 19th, both houses waited upon the 
Lord Lieutenant with their address, and requested him 
to transmit the same, with this request his Excellency 
refused to comply, returning for answer that under the 
impressions he felt of his official duty and of the oath ho 
had taken, he did not consider himself warranted to lay 
before the Prince an address, purporting to invest his 
Royal Highness with powers to take upon him the Gov 
ernment of the realm, before he should be enabled by 
law so to do; and therefore he declined transmitting their 
address to Great Britain. 

Upon the return of the Commons to their own House, 
and the answer of the Lord Lieutenant being reported to 
them, Mr. Grattan observed, that in a case so extremely 
new it would be highly improper to proceed with hurry 
or precipitation ; the House was called upon to act with 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


325 


dignity, firmness and decision; and therefore that due 
time might be had for deliberation, he would move the 
question of adjournment to the following day. The 
question was put and carried without opp >sition. 

VII. On the next day he moved, That his Excellency 
the Lord Lieutenant, having thought proper to decline to 
transmit to his Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales, 
the address of both Houses of Parliament, a competent 
number of members be appointed to present the said ad¬ 
dress to his Royal Highness. 

Mr. Grattan’s motion was passed without any division, 
whereupon he moved, “That Mr. Connolly do attend the 
Lords with the said resolution, and acquaint them that 
this House requests them to appoint members of their 
own body to join with the members of the Commons in 
presenting the said address.” This also passed without 
any division, and Mr. Connolly went up to the Lords 
accordingly. The message received in reply was, that 
the Lords had concurred in the resolution of the Com¬ 
mons, and had appointed his Grace the Duke of Leinster, 
and the Earl of Charlemont, to join with such members 
as the Commons should appoint to present the address of 
both Houses to his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. 

Mr. Grattan then moved that the Right Hon. Thomas 
Connolly, Right Hon. J. O’Neil, Right Hon. W. Ponson- 
by, and J. Stewart, Esq. should be appointed commis¬ 
sioners on the part of the Commons, for the purpose of 
presenting the Address to'his Royal Highness, the Prince 
of Wales, and they were appointed accordingly. 

These motions having passed, Mr. Grattan then moved, 
that the two Houses of Parliament had discharged an in¬ 
dispensable duty in providing for the third estate of the 
Irish Constitution (rendered incomplete through the 
King’s incapacity) by appointing the Prince of Wales, 
Regent of Ireland. This motion was carried after a long 
debate Ayes 150, Noes 71. 

Mr. Grattan then moved that it is the opinion of this 
House, “ That the answer of his Excellency the Lord 
Lieutenant to both Houses, in refusing to transmit the 
said address, is ill advised , and tends to ccnvey an un¬ 
warrantable and unconstitutional censure mi the con¬ 
duct of both Houses .” 


28 


m 


PISE AND FALL 


Mr. Grattan’s m >tionof censure was then put,on which 
the House divided, and there appeared /or the motion 115 
against it 83. 

On the 25th, resolutions of the committee of supply 
(which provides for the payment of the interest of the 
national debt, the annuities and establishments,) being 
read, Mr. Grattan moved “ That the words for twc 
months, only ending the 26th of May, 1789, be added.’ 
On the question being put, there appeared. Ayes 104 
Noes 85. 

Mr. Grattan then moved that the army be provided for 
to the 25th of May only, which motion was carried. 
Ayes 102, Noes 77. 

VIII. This determination of the Irish legislature in 
asserting their constitutional independence, and their en¬ 
tire rejection of ail subserviency to the views or dictates 
of the British Parliament, was founded not only on the 
nature of their federative compact, but on the very prin¬ 
ciples of that constitution which it was their mutual duty 
to preserve in its full integrity. 

By that constitution it was indispensable that every 
statute should receive its consummation only by the ex¬ 
press assent of the King, as the third estate of that con¬ 
stitution. 

In this case no third estate existed in a capacity to as¬ 
sent to or consummate any statute, and no express pro¬ 
vision had been made by the constitution for such an 
emergency. The Irish legislature therefore, having no 
competent third estate to consummate a statute, adopted 
the next step admitted by the Constitution, of proceeding 
by address, for which they had the English precedent of 
1688. 

The British Minister however, determined to proceed 
by statute, and this difference therefore arose between 
the two legislatures, England proceeded by means which 
could not be constitutionally consummated, Ireland pro¬ 
ceeded by means which constitutionally could. The 
Viceroy surrendered himself to the minister; the Irish 
legislature adhered to the Prince, and asserted their in¬ 
dependence by an overt act, which England never since 
forgave; and, on the Union, used that act of Irish con¬ 
stitutionality as a argument for annihilating that legis- 


GF THE IRISH NATION. 327 

lature. which had dared to support the rights of theit 
Prince against the ambition of his Minister. 

IX. International controversies are frequently referred 
to the arbitration of foreign states, disinterested on the 
subject, and had the question been submitted to such an 
arbitrator, “Whether the British legislature abetting the 
conspiracy of Mr. Pitt, to abridge the executive power of 
its inherent rights, or that of Ireland supporting the royal 
prerogatives of their common Regent, and had committed 
a crime, should be extinguished for its inroad on the con¬ 
stitution,” the awful sentence must have been pronounced 
against Great Britain ; and even the dignified language 
of the Prince himself, evinced nothing adverse to the 
principle of so just a condemnation.* 

Previous to the departure of the Delegates to present 
the address to the Prince of Wales, a declaration by the 
Viceroy had been made public, which threatened to visit 
with his displeasure, or reward by his favours, every 
member of the legislature who could either be deprived 
of office for his resistance, or induced to accept one foi 
his desertion. 

This declaration gave rise to the then celebrated Round 
Robin, which was subscribed by a great number of the 
highest and most leading characters of both Houses of 
Parliament, pledging themselves as a body and as indi¬ 
viduals, against every attempt by Government either to 
seduce or to intimidate them. This was a fatal blow to 
all further struggles of the Viceroy. The tide ran too 
strongly to be resisted ; the rank and influence of those 
who signed that document could no longer be opposed, 
and proved to the Viceroy the impossibility of his con¬ 
tinuing the Government of Ireland, upon such a princi¬ 
ple, and of course he determined to retire from the Vice¬ 
royalty. 

X. The Delegates now proceeded to London to deliver 
to the Prince the joint address of both Houses of the Irish 
Parliament. The first nobles and commoners of that 
kingdom investing him with all those royal rights and 
prerogatives which had been refused to him by his Bri¬ 
tish subjects, was too grand and gratifying an embassy 
r.ot to receive the highest honours and attention his Roya, 

• See his letter to Mr Pitt, and his repliu* to the addresses 


128 


RISE AND FALL 


Highness and his friends could bestow. Nothing could 
exceed the dignified cordiality and splendour with which 
they were received by the Regent on that occasion. He 
felt all the importance of such a grant, and if gratitude 
has any permanent station in the hearts of monarchs, 
the Irish people had reason to expect every favour that 
luture power could confer, on a nation whose firmness 
and fidelity had given him so imperishable a proof of 
their attachment. 

The words of the address bespeak the independence 
and loyalty of the Irish legislature, and fix the constitu¬ 
tional limitation to the power conferred by them ; they 
prayed :— 

“ We, his Majesty’s most dutiful and loya 1 -.objects, the 
lords spiritual and temporal and the Com'' ^s r Ireland 
in Parliament assembled, beg leave V pproach your 
Royal Highness with hearts full of the aost loyal and 
affectionate attachment to the person ar A government of 
your Royal Father, to express the deepest and most 
grateful sense of the numerous blessings which we have 
enjoyed under his illustrious House, and at the same time 
to condole with your Royal Highness upon the grievous 
malady with which it has pleased Heaven to afflict the 
best of sovereigns. 

“ We beg leave humbly to request that your Royal 
Highness will be pleased to take upon you the govern¬ 
ment of this realm, during the continuance of his Majes¬ 
ty’s present indisposition, and no longer; and under the 
style and title of Prince Regent of Ireland, in the name 
and on behalf of his Majesty, to exercise and administer, 
according to the laws and constitution of this kingdom, 
all regal powers, jurisdictions, and prerogatives to the 
crown and government thereof belonging.” 

XI. The reply of his Royal Highness to this embassy 
from Ireland, is a document of most intrinsic value to the 
character, and ought to have been so to the interests of 
that calumniated and ruined island. 

That royal document expressly upheld and for ever 
records the loyal, consistent, and constitutional principles, 
and conduct which guided the Irish legislature in that 
unprecedented proceeding, therein, not only explicitly 
but most ardently eulogised by the heir apparent. 


OF THE TRISH RATION. 329 

Yet it is unfortunate for the character and consistency 
of British Governments, to find seated high in the cabinet 
of George the Fourth, the very minister who, in the Irish 
Parliament, in 1799, gave the retort courteous to every 
word so uttered by that monarch, as Regent in 1789, and 
stigmatized as treason that just eulogium uttered but ten 
years before upon their loyalty. 

Posterity, however, will read with disgust that, within 
so short a period, the very act which elicited those just 
and florid praises of devoted Ireland, was converted into 
a libel, and made a leading argument to effect the 
annihilation of the very legislature they had so ardently 
applauded. 

It is a remarkable coincidence in Irish annals, that 
Providence was pleased to diminish her visitation on the 
King’s capacity on the very day first appointed by the 
Prince to receive his investiture as Regent of Ireland, 
through the hands of the Irish Delegates; the object oi 
this mission therefore could have no ulterior operation, 
and they returned to their country with every public 
honour and piivate estimation which their embassy and 
their characters so justly merited. The Prince therefore 
had no power previous to the Union of exemplifying his 
declaration of gratitude to Ireland. After the Union, 
when Imperial Regent, his British ministers showed no 
disposition to give his Royal Highness that power o? 
opportunity; his energies seemed to retire as his powers 
were advancing, and when he became actual monarch 
of both countries, events proved that the Regencies wem 
forgotten, and that gratitude was not a record. 


RISE AND FALL 


330 


CHATTEP XXII. 


Ireland acted on her independence—Prosperous state of Ireland at that 
Period—The Rise of the Irish Nation consummated by the withdrawal 
of the Viceroy—Particularly important observation—Lord Westmore¬ 
land—Major Hobart—His character—State of Ireland on his accession 
to office—Concessions by Government—Delusion and negligence of the 
Opposition—Catholic emancipation commenced—Arguments of the 
Catholics—Catholic petition rejected by a great majority—Deep de¬ 
signs of Mr. Pitt—Mr. Pitt proceeds with his measures to promote a 
union—Lord Fitzwilliam appointed Lord Lieutenant—His character— 
Deceived and calumniated by Mr. Pitt—Great popularity of the Lord 
Lieutenant—Earl Fitzwilliam recalled—Fatal consequences—Ireland 
given up to Lord Clare, and insurrection excited—Lord Camden—Uni¬ 
ted Irishmen—Unprecedented Organization—Lord Camden’s character 
—Despotic conduct of Lord Clare —Earl Carhampton commander-in¬ 
chief—Disobeys Lord Camden—Again disobeys—The King’s sign- 
manuel commands him to obey—He resigns. 

1. Upon the return of the Delegates to Ireland, the first 
epocha which gives a title to this epitome of her history 
was consummated; her Rise. She had arisen from ser¬ 
vitude to freedom, from a subservient to an independent 
Nation ; the acquirement of that independence was a 
revolution, but it was a revolution without bloodshed. It 
was rather a regeneration, accomplished by the almost 
unanimous exertion of all the rank, the wealth, the cha¬ 
racter and the honesty of a vast population; the highest 
of the Aristocracy, and the humblest of the people joined 
hand in hand to regain their independence; and it may 
well be termed a loyal revolution, because the English 
legislature, by their own voluntary act, admitted theii 
own previous usurpation, and denounced all further pre¬ 
tensions to dominate over Ireland ; and the King of Gieat 
Britain on his throne, received and acknowledged his Irish 
subjects altogether legislatively unconnected with the rest 
of England. From that day Ireland rose in wealth, in 
trade, and in manufactures, agriculture, and overy branch 
at industry that could enhance her value or render a 


OF THE IRISH NATION 


331 


people riel , and prosperous. She had acquired her seat 
amongst the nations of the world, she had asserted her 
independence against the insolence of Portugal, she had 
suggested an Irish navy to protect her shores, site had 
declared a perpetual league of mutual amity and aid with 
Great Britain. The court of her Viceroy appeared as 
splendid as her monarch’s. Her nobles resided and 
expended their great fortunes amongst the Irish people, 
the Commons all resided on their own demesnes, supported 
and fostered a laborious and tranquil tenantry. The 
peace of the country was perfect, no standing army, no 
militia, no police were wanting for its preservation ; the 
activity of the Volunteers had suppressed crime in every 
district, religious prejudices were gradually diminishing; 
every means of amelioration were in contemplation or in 
progress. The distinctness of Ireland had been proclaimed 
to the world by overt acts of herself, and of her monarch 
and the King of England. The Irish sceptre in the hands 
of her King had touched the charter of her independence, 
on the faith of nations, before God and man its eternal 
freedom had been declared, and should have been in¬ 
violable. But by some inscrutable will of heaven, it was 
decreed that she should soon be again erased from the list 
of nations, punished without a crime, and laid prostrate at 
the feet of a jealous ally. 

II. The spirit and independence of the conjoint Peers 
and Commons of Ireland, and their reception by the heir 
apparent, convinced the Viceroy of the impossibility of 
his retaining office; his declaration of departure being 
again repeated, was greeted in Dublin as a measure of 
the highest gratification to the Whigs and Patriots, and 
of the deepest regret to the adherents of the minister. 

However, though the recovery of the King rendered the 
appointment of their Regent, at the time, unnecessary, it 
sufficiently asserted their constitutional and national in¬ 
dependence, and as we have already mentioned, consum¬ 
mated that epoch which is termed the Rise of Ireland. 

One observation is here not out of place, and it is rather 
a remarkable occurrence, that it was during the short 
interval which occurred between the first and second 
announcement of the entire incapacity of King George 
the Third, that he was induced by the same ministers who 


RISE AND FALL 


532 

had resisted the regent, to forego his own Royal acts, 
rescind his own constitutional assent—melt down his Irish 
Crown, and place his Irish subjects under the guardianship 
of a mutilated and absent representation. It is therefore 
not easy to reconcile to ordinary reason the probability 
that a conscientious and moral monarch, during the in 
terv&l of a disease so deep-seated and enfeebling to the 
human intellect, could calmly or judicially reflect on a 
measure so comprehensive in its results, and so corrupt 
in its attainment, as the legislative Union. 

It was under all these circumstances, and the departure 
of the Viceroy, that the Earl of Westmoreland came over 
as his successor. But the line of his politics or govern¬ 
ment had not preceded him. 

III. Mr. Pitt felt that he had made but slight progress 
towards his scheme of a union with Ireland; his projects 
had turned against himself; and the Irish Parliament, on 
the subject of the Regency, had taught him a lesson he 
had but little expectation of learning. However, the 
spirit of the Irish confirmed that austere and pertinacious 
statesman in his resolution to rule Ireland in Great Britain, 
and to leave her no power to impede the course of his 
ambition. 

The Earl of Westmoreland was by no means ill adapted 
to the Irish people. He was sufficiently reserved to com 
mand respect, and dignified enough to uphold his station. 
His splendid conviviality procured him many rational 
partisans, and his extreme hospitality engendered at least 
temporary friendships. Ha was honourable and good- 
natured, and, among the higher orders and his intimatl 
associates, he was a popular Viceroy. 

His Secretary, Major Hobart (Lord Buckinghamshire! 
was more a man of the world, and was admirably cal¬ 
culated for the higher classes of the Irish. 

A perfect gentleman, cheerful, convivial, and con¬ 
ciliating, though decided; liberal, yet crafty; kind- 
hearted, but cautious; and with a mixture of pride and 
affability in his manner, he particularly adapted himself 
to his official purposes by occasionally altering the pro¬ 
portion of each, as persons or circumstances required 
their application. With an open, prepossessing, counte¬ 
nance he gained wonderfully upon eveiy gentleman with 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


333 


whom he associated.* The period of Lord Westmore¬ 
land’s government was certainly the summit of Irish 
prosperity. From the epoch of his departure she may 
date the commencement of her downfall. Lord West¬ 
moreland’s was charged with being a jobbing Government, 
but it was less so than that of any of his predecessors; 
and if he did not diminish, he certainly did not aggravate 
the burthens of the people. 

IV. When Lord Westmoreland arrived, Ireland was in 
a state of great prosperity. He met a strong opposition 
in Parliament, but it was an honest opposition, the guardian 
of public liberty, and not a faction. It was constitutional 
in principle, and formidable in talent; it was rather a 
party to effect wholesome measures, than a systematic 
opposition to the Government. Only two subjects of 
vital importance were introduced during his adminis¬ 
tration ; most of the others being plausible demands, 
calculated rather to gratify the people than to produce 
any radical change in the system of the Government. A 
Place Bill, a Pension Bill, and a Responsibility Bill, an 
inquiry into the sale of Peerages, and into the Police of 
Dublin, were amongst the most material measures pressed 
by the opposition during his viceroyalty. The Place Bill, 
however, supposed to be remedial, eventually became the 
most important that had ever been passed by an indepen¬ 
dent Irish Parliament. 

The perseverance of the able men who formed the 
opposition, at length gave a pretence to the Minister to 
purchase an armistice, by conceding some of the measures 
they had so long and pertinaciously resisted. 

It could not have been flattering however, to the warm 
supporters of Government, to be required by the Secretary 

* The Beard of Green Cloth (the Lord Lieutenant’s second table), 
never was supported with more splendour than during Lord Westmore¬ 
land’s Government. It was, at least, as good as his own, the class of so¬ 
ciety the same, the conviviality superior. Economy had not crept into 
that department, and every shilling that was granted to that establish¬ 
ment was expended upon it. 

Major Hobart saved nothing in Ireland; he expended in the metro¬ 
polis all he received; and the entire of the grants, then made by the Irish 
Parliament to support the Vice-regal establishment, was actually laid oul 
on it, and the citizens of Dub) n, in fact, reaped the profits of theii tax- 
fttion. 


534 


RISE AND FALL 


to become absolutely inconsistent, and to change the*? 
language without a change of circumstances, and recant 
opinions they had so frequently declared in conjunction 
with the minister. 

Some of the most active supporters of Government, 
therefore, determined not to interfere in these concessions, 
and the opposition, on the other hand, was so keen at the 
chase, and so gratified at the concession of their long- 
sought measures, that they but superficially regarded the 
details or the mode of conceding, and never reflected, as 
legislators or as statesmen, that one of those measures 
might prove a deadly weapon, by which the executive 
Government might destroy the Parliament under pretence 
of purifying it. A Bill was brought in to vacate the seats 
of members accepting offices under Government, omitting 
the term of bona fide offices; t hereby leaving the minister 
a power of packing the Parliament. 

The opposition, blinded by their honest zeal, considered 
this ruinous Bill a species of reform, and were astonished 
at the concession of a measure at once so popular, and 
which they conceived to be so destructive of ministerial 
corruption. 

The sagacity of Mr. Pitt, however, clearly showed him, 
that measure would put the Irish Parliament eventually 
into his hands; and the sequel proved, that, without that 
Bill, worded as it was, the corruption by the Ministers, 
the rebellion, force and terror combined, could not have 
effected the Union. 

The Place, Pension, and Responsibility Bills, were pro¬ 
posed by Mr. Grattan, acceded to by the Viceroy , passed 
into laws, and considered as a triumph of the opposition 
over the venality of the Government.* 

Mr. Grattan was certainly the most incorruptible public 
character on the records of the Irish Parliament. He 
worshipped popularity,.yet there was a tinge of aristocracy 
in his devotion, which whilst it qualified its enthusiasm, 
still added to its purity. 

* The Author was requested by Government to give his assent, in the 
House, to the Place Bill; but he had, at their original request, as well 
as on his own opinion, for some years opposed it; he therefore positively 
refused, and stood nearly alone in his opposition. Mr. Newenham and 
Sir John M‘Cartney only supported him He foresaw its possible oper¬ 
ation. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


335 


Such men may occasionally err in judgment, or may be 
misled by their ardour; and this was the case with Mr. 
Grattan, on this armistice with the Government. 

Mr. Grattan did not always foresee the remote operation 
of his projects. 

He was little adapted to labour on the details of mea¬ 
sures ; he had laid the broad foundation of the constitu¬ 
tion, but sometimes regarded lightly the out-buildings 
that were occasionally attached to it. On this occasion, 
the Ministers were too subtle for him, and he heeded not 
that fatal clause which made no distinction between real 
and nominal offices. He considered not, that though 
offices of real emolument could not be so frequently 
vacated and transferred, as to give the Minister any very 
important advantage, those of nominal value might be 
daily given and resigned, without observation, and that, 
as the House was then .constituted, the Minister might 
almost form the Commons at his pleasure.* 

By comparing the Irish Parliament at the epochs of 
the Proposition and the Regency Bills, and at that ol 
1800, the fatal operation of the Place Bill can be no lon¬ 
ger questionable. In one word—it carried the Union.f 

V. During the administration of Lord Westmoreland, 
the first question (which so deeply affected the subsequent 
events of Ireland) was the partial emancipation of the 
Irish Catholics. Though the question did not, when in 
troduced, appear to involve the consideration of a legis 
lative union, its results communicated a powerful in flu 
ence to that measure. 

The national annihilation of Ireland was, in a consi¬ 
derable degree promoted by the impolitic mismanagement 
of the Catholic population. 

Though many of the penal and restrictive statutes, by 

* There are four nominal offices in Ireland—the Escheatorships of 
Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, which are obsolete: their 
emoluments are 30s per annum. By means of these offices, Lord Cas- 
tlereagh packed the parliament in 1800. 

The Chi Item Hundreds in England are of the same nature; but the 
large number of the British Commons renders any thing like packing 
Parliament for occasional purposes, by that means, impossible. Nor 
durst a British minister practice that artifice, except to a very limited 
extent. 

t See hereafter Mr Crow’s Letter to Lord Belvidere. 


336 


RISE AND PALL 


which the Catholics had been so long excluded from all 
the most valuable rights, not only of British subjects, but 
of freemen, were repealedand though the power of 
taking freeholds, and possessing landed property, was 
restored to them, these concessions were but a stimulus 
to further claims, and for which they created a most 
rational expectation. 

The Catholics argued, that if they were allowed to 
purchase freeholds, and to receive, by descent, lands in 
fee, it must consequently be an injustice, an absurdity, 
and an insult, to debar them from the elective franchise, 
and the privileges which were by law attached to the 
possession of the same species of property by their Pro¬ 
testant fellow-subjects. 

They said, that noblemen and commoners of great for¬ 
tune, of their persuasion, who had been deprived of their 
rights by their attachment to hereditary monarchy, not¬ 
withstanding those partial concessions, still remained 
loaded with many attributes of actual slavery, in the 
midst of a free people ; that after a century of loyal and 
peaceable demeanour towards a Protestant dynasty, they 
were still to be stigmatized as neither trustworthy nor 
loyal. Their language, firm and decided, was rational, 
and eventually successful. Government were now alarm¬ 
ed, and affected to take a liberal view of the subject; but 
were by no means unanimous as to the extent of the 
concessions. They conceived that tranquillity might be 
attained by mere religious toleration. This may be true, 
where but a small portion of the people are claimants: 
far different, however, where those excluded form the 
bulk, and the exclusionists a small minority of the people. 
However, the concessions were important, and greater 
than could have been credible before Lord Westmore¬ 
land’s administration. The grant to Catholics of the 
elective franchise was the act more of Major Hobart and 
of his government than of himself. The forty shilling 
franchise was then granted to the poorest and most de¬ 
pendent peasantry of Europe, who might one day 
be influenced by one motive, and the next by its re¬ 
verse. It is easier to grant than to recall, and strong 
doubts were fairly entertained as to the wisdom of that 
part of it. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


337 


The first important debates, on granting the elective 
franchise to Irish Catholics, were in 1792, on a petition, 
presented in their favour. It was then looked upon as a 
most daring step; intolerance was then in full vigour, and 
Mr. Latouche m:T ci to reject the petition without enter¬ 
ing o.' iio merits. 

The prejudice against the Catholics was then so pow¬ 
erful, that their petition was rejected with indignation, by 
a division of 208 to 23. 

The Government, by this majority, hoped to render 
similar applications hopeless; but, a few months after, it 
was found necessary that the measure should be recom¬ 
mended from the Throne, and supported by Government, 
and was carried in the same House by a large majority. 
The strange proceeding of the Irish Parliament on tins 
subject, may be accounted for by their dread of reclama¬ 
tion by the Catholics (should they be admitted to power) 
of their forfeited estates, held by Peers and Commoners, 
by grants of Elizabeth, Cromwell, and William; but 
which, on more mature reflection, they found to be 
chimerical. 

The Legislature, however, by granting the elective 
franchise to the Irish Catholics, conceded to them the 
very essence of the British Constitution. 

Mr. Pitt’s ulterior views as to Ireland solve the enigma, 
that the virulent enemies of the Catholics , who opposed 
the slightest concession , should directly after vote them 
the elective franchise. Mi;. Pitt’s object was to recipro¬ 
cally exasperate the two parties against each other. The 
indignant rejection of the petition of 1792, inflamed the 
Catholic with resentment, and elated the Protestant with 
triumph. The concession of 1793 reversed these pas¬ 
sions ; and both parties felt equally disgusted. The 
Minister took every advantage of the unpopularity of the 
Parliament. 

A very remarkable incident of inconsistency occurred 
in the House of Lords upon this occasion. Lord Clare, 
the most unqualified enemy the Catholics ever had, and 
the most virulent against them, on the debate in 1793 
spoke and voted for giving them the elective franchise, 
which he had previously asserted would be a breach of 
the Coronation Oath, and destructive to the Church and 

29 


338 


RISE AND FALL 


State. On the other hand, Lord Charlemont, al ways the 
most zealous friend of the Irish people , and the most dis¬ 
tinguished of the gentle breed of patriots, on the same 
debate spoke in favour of the Catholics, yet voted against 
any concession whatsoever. 

Lord Clare wished to do mischief on Mr. Pitt’s system, 
even at his own expense. Lord Charlemont wished to 
do good, but was too shallow to see the designs of the 
Chancellor, or even to mix policy with his candour.* 

Though Lord Westmoreland was powerfully opposed 
in Parliament, during the whole of his government, the 
country was in peace, and he was zealously supported. 
Had he not been recalled, under pretence of making way 
for a general pacification, the nation had no reason to 
suppose his place would be much better filled. His recall, 
and the appointment and deposition of Lord Fitzwilliam, 
his successor, within three months, completed the train 
which Mr. Pitt had laid for the explosion. Having 
divided the country, and obtained the means of packing 
the Parliament, through the Place Bill, he suffered some 
men to disseminate the French revolutionary mania; and 
having proceeded so far, recalled Lord Westmoreland, 
and encouraged others to raise their loyalty into the 
region of madness. 

His Lordship had not completed the usual term of 
residence, nor had he failed in his duties; and his ap¬ 
pearing not to feel hurt at his abrupt recall was mysteri¬ 
ous, and seemed to forbode some important scheme or 
deception. 

VI. The appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam, who had 
previously opposed the administration, was, perhaps, the 
most deep and treacherous design ever contemplated by 
any minister. But Mr. Pitt had never been in Ireland, 
and experienced difficulties he did not anticipate. He 
fancied he might excite and suppress commotion at 
convenience ; but, in deciding upon forcing a premature 

* The ablest of the Catholic leaders, at that time, was Mr. Keough 
he possessed a very strong intellect, and had more intelligence and more 
influence with that body, than any man of that persuasion; he was a 
leader at all their early meetings, and of very great use in forwarding 
their measures. After their attainment of the elective franchise, he sliD 
urged their claims with talent, vigour, and ^severance 


Cf THE IRISH NATION. 


339 


insurrection for a particular object, he did not calculate 
on the torrent of blood that would be shed, and the in¬ 
veterate hatred that might be perpetuated against l he 
British Government. His resolution was taken, and he 
prevailed upon one of the most pure and respected of the 
Whig leaders to become Viceroy of Ireland, under a sup¬ 
position that he was selected to tranquilize and to foster 
that country. The Minister wanted only a high-minded 
victim, as an instrument to agitate the Irish, llis Lord- 
ship had great estates in Ireland—was one of its most 
kind and indulgent landlords, and was extremely popular. 
His manners were, perhaps, too mild, but he had enlarged 
principles of political liberty, and of religious toleration. 
Mr. Pitt had assured him he should have the gratification 
of fully emancipating the Irish Catholics. Lord Fitz- 
william accepted the office only on that consideration, 
and with this entire conviction he repaired to Dublin, to 
carry into immediate execution what he conceived would 
for ever tranquilize that country. Mr. Pitt intended to 
inflame the country—throw upon the Viceroy the in¬ 
sinuation of disobedience—and openly charge him with a 
precipitancy, of which he himself was the real author. 

Never was a scheme conducted with more address and 
secrecy. Lord Fitzwilliam was received with open arms 
by the people—he immediately commenced his arrange¬ 
ments—and Mr. Pitt began as closely to counteract 
them. In every act of his government, Lord Fitzwilliam 
was either deceived or circumvented. 

Mr. Pitt’s end was answered : he thus raised the Catho¬ 
lics to the height of expectation, and, by suddenly recall¬ 
ing their favourite Viceroy, he inflamed them to the 
degree of generating the commotions he meditated, which 
would throw the Protestants into the arms of England for 
protection, whilst the horrors would be aggravated by the 
mingled conflicts of parties, royalists and republicans. 

By this measure, too, Mr. Pitt had the gratification of 
humbling Earl Fitzwilliam, disgracing the Whigs, over¬ 
whelming the Opposition, turning the Irish into fanatics, 
and thereby preparing the gentry of that country for the 
project that was immediately to succeed it. 

The conduct of the Duke of Portland must have beer 
either culpable or imbecile—he must either have bd> 


M) 


RISE AND FALL 


rrayed Lori Fitzwilliam to Mr. Pitt, or Mr. Pitt must 
have made him a blind instrument of tieachery to his 
friend. The first is most probable, as he remained in 
office after his friend had been disgraced, and, in direct 
contradiction to his own declaration, aided in the fatal 
project which was effected by that treachery. 

The limits of this volume do not admit of stating in 
detail all the important facts which constituted the treach¬ 
ery of the Premier, and the fraud on Earl Fitzwilliam. 
His Lordship’s letters to Lord Carlisle cannot be 
abridged; every line is material; in those letters only 
can the deception practised on that nobleman be found 
with that weight and accuracy which so remarkable an 
incident in both English and Irish history requires. 

In those letters will be found, as in a glare of light, 
on the one side, that high-minded, pure, virtuous dignity 
of mind and action, and on the other, that intrepid, able, 
crafty, inflexible, and unprincipled conduct, which mark¬ 
ed indelibly the characters of those remarkable per¬ 
sonages. 

Mr. Pitt having sent Lord Fitzwilliam to Ireland with 
unlimited powers to satisfy the nation, permitted him to 
proceed until he had unavoidably committed himself both 
to the Catholics and country, when he suddenly recalled 
h m, leaving it in a state of excitation and dismay. 

The day Lord Fitzwilliam arrived, peace was pro- 
' )aimed throughout all Ireland. The day he quitted it, 
sue prepared for insurrection. 

The Beresfords and the Ponsonbys were arrayed 
against each other—and, in one week more the Beres¬ 
fords would have been prostrate. Mr. Pitt, however, 
terminated the question, by dethroning Lord Fitzwilliam ; 
the Whigs were defeated—and Ireland was surrendered 
at discretion to Lord Clare and his connection. Within 
three months after Lord Fitzwilliam’s dismissal, Lord 
Clare had got the nation into full training for military 
execution .. 

VII. The arrival of Lord Camden to succeed Earl 
Fitzwilliam, was attended by almost insurrectionary out¬ 
rage. The Beresfords were the ostensible cause of the 
people’s favourite being overthrown: on that family 
theieiore, they conceived they should signalize their veil* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


341 


geance: and their determination was nearly carried into 
execution. 

The Chancellor, in his carriage, was assailed; he re¬ 
ceived the blow of a stone on his forehead, which, with 
somewhat more force, would have rid the people of their 
enemy. His house was attacked; the populace were 
determined to destroy him, and were proceeding to exe¬ 
cute their intentions. At that moment their rage was, 
most fortunately, diverted by the address of his sister, 
Mrs. Jeffries, who, unknown and at great risk, had min¬ 
gled in the crowd: she misled them as to the place of 
his concealment. Disappointed of their object, they then 
attacked the Custom House, where Mr. Beresford, first 
commissioner of the revenue resided. Dreadful results 
were with reason apprehended. 

Such was the inauspicious beginning of Lord Camden’s 
government. From the day of his arrival the spirit of 
insurrection increased, and, in a short period, during his 
Lordship’s Government, more blood was shed, as much 
of outrage and cruelty was perpetrated on both sides, and 
as many military executions took place, as in ten times 
the same period during the sanguinary reign of Eliza¬ 
beth, or the usurpations of Cromwell or King William.* 

VIII. The conspiracy of united Irishmen—never pro¬ 
foundly secret, soon became public; its members avowed 
themselves; but the extent of its objects was unknown, 
and its civil arrangements and military organization far 
exceeded those of any association in history. Constituents 
knew not their representatives, and the soldiers knew not 
the names of those by whom they were to be commanded. 
Even the members of their executive Directory were 
utterly unknown to some hundred thousand men, who 
had sworn obedience to their orders. Mr. Pitt was sur- 

* T have always considered, and still consider William the Third as 
an usurper in Ireland, until the flight of James, and the Articles of 
Limerick, capitulated for the whole nation; after that, he was to bp 
considered king de facto, by conquest. At all events, it was the result of 
a rebellion in England and of loyalty in Ireland; and it should be recol¬ 
lected, that the Irish people, after that capitulation, never did rise or rebel 
against his government, or that of his successors, as they did in Scotland 
twice, and partially in England. 

The insurrection of 1798 was excited by the art flees of Mr. Pitt ta 
promote a Union. 


29* 


RISE AND FALL 


S42 


prised, and found the conspiracy becoming rather too 
extensive and dangerous for his purposes ; for a moment 
he felt lie might possibly get beyond his depth, and he 
conceived the necessity of forcing a premature explosion, 
by which he might excite sufficient horrors throughout 
the country to serve his purpose, and be able to suppress 
the conspiracy in the bud, which might be beyond his 
power should it arrive at its maturity. 

Individually Lord Camden was an excellent man, and. 
in ordinary times, would have been an acquisition to the 
country, but he was made a cruel instrument in the hands 
of Mr. Pitt, and seemed to have no will of his own. 

Earl Camden was of a high mind, and of unblemished 
reputation; his principles were good, but his talent was 
not eminent; he intended right but was led wrong ; he 
wished to govern with moderation, but was driven by his 
council into most violent proceedings ; to the arrogant 
dictum of Lord Clare he had not a power of resistance, 
and he yielded to cruelties that his mind must have re¬ 
volted at. 

His Lordship became extremely popular amongst the 
armed associations which were raised in Ireland under 
the title of Yeomen. He was considered the guardian of 
that institution. He did what justice he was permitted to 
do; and a single false act of his own , during his residence 
in Ireland, never was complained of. His Secretary, 
Earl Chichester (Mr. Pelham), held up the reputation of 
the Government to its proper standard. Without great 
talents, he had good sense, good manners, a frank ad¬ 
dress, with humane, honourable, and just intentions ; but, 
at a critical moment he was obliged to return to England 
for his health, and Lord Camden filled up the vacancy 
by his nephew. This relative became one of the most 
celebrated persons of his day, and is the principal hero in 
the sequel of Irish history, and in England proved him¬ 
self a most destructive minister to the finances and cha¬ 
racter of the British Empire. 

However, with all his good qualities as Viceroy, Lord 
Camden’s Government was by its consequences, the most 
ruinous, and most unfortunate, that Ireland ever experi¬ 
enced. 

Lord Clare and his connections, int )xicated by theii 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


343 


victory over the late Viceroy, set no bounds to theii 
triumph ; they treated the people as their vassals, the 
country as their demesne, and its patronage as their pri¬ 
vate prope-ty. 

IX. On a review of the state of Ireland at that period, 
it must be obvious to every deliberate observer, that the 
design T Mr. Pitl, to effect some mysterious measure in 
Ireland, was now, through the unaccountable conduct of 
the Irish Government, beginning to develope itself. The 
st-edf of insurrection, which had manifested themselves 
in Scotland and in England, were by the vigour and 
promptitude of the British Government, rapidly crushed; 
and by the reports of Parliament, Lord Melville had ob¬ 
tained and published prints of the different pikes manu¬ 
factured in Scotland, long before that weapon had been 
manufactured by the Irish peasantry. But in Ireland, 
though it appeared, from public documents, that Govern¬ 
ment had full and accurate information of the Irish United 
Societies, and that their leaders and chiefs were well 
known to the British Ministry, at the same period, and 
by the same means that England and Scotland were kept 
tranquil, so might have been Ireland. 

Mr. Pitt, however, found he had temporized to the ex¬ 
tremity of prudence ; the disaffected had not yet appear¬ 
ed as a collected army, but a succession of partial out¬ 
rages convinced him that prompt and decisive measures 
became absolutely indispensable. The Earl of Car- 
hampton, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, first expressed 
his dissatisfaction at Mr, Pitt’s inexplicable proceedings. 
His Lordship had but little military experience, but he 
was a man of the world, of courage, and decision, ardent, 
and obstinate ; he determined right or wrong, to annihi¬ 
late the conspiracy. Without the consent of the Irish 
Government, he commanded the troops, that, on all 
symptoms of insurrectionary movements, they should 
act without waiting for the presence of any civil power. 
Martial, law had not then been proclaimed. He went, 
therefore, a length, which could not possibly be support¬ 
ed ; his orders were countermanded by the Lord Lieu- 
jnant; but he refused to obey the Viceroy, under colouf 
that he had no rank in the army. 

Lord Carharripton found that the troops in the garrison 


344 


RISE AND FALL 


of Dublin were daily corrupted by the United Irishmen^ 
he therefore withdrew them, and formed two distinct 
camps on the south and north, some miles from the capital, 
and thereby, as he conceived, prevented all intercourse 
of the army with the disaffected of the metropolis. Both 
measures were disapproved of by the Lord Lieutenant, 
whom Lord Carhampton again refused to obey. 

The King’s sign manual was at length procured, or¬ 
dering him to break up his camps, and bring back the 
garrison ; this he obeyed, and marched the troops into 
Dublin barracks. He then resigned his command, anu 
publicly declared, that some deep and insidious scheme 
of the Minister was in agitation: for, instead of suppress¬ 
ing, the Irish Government was obviously disposed to ex¬ 
cite an insurrection. 

Mr. Pitt counted on the expertness of the Irish Govern¬ 
ment to effect a premature explosion. Free Quarters* 
were now ordered, to irritate the Irish population ; Slow 
Tortures were inflicted under the pretence of forcing 
confessions ; the people were goaded and driven to mad¬ 
ness. 

Generaf Abercromby, who succeeded as Commander- 
in-Chief, was not permitted to abate these enormities, 
and therefore resigned with disgust.f Ireland was by 
these means reduced to a state of anarchy, and exposed 
to crime and cruelties to which no nation had ever been 
subject. The people could no longer bear their miseries. 
Mr. Pitt’s object was now effected, and an insiu/ecUon 
was excited. 

* Free Quarters is a term not yet practically known in England 
Free Quarters rendered officers and soldiers despotic masters of ti e peas¬ 
antry, their houses, food, property, and, occasionally, their families 
This measure was resorted, with all its attendant horrors, throughout 
some of the best parts of Ireland, previous to the insurrectic 1 , aud foi 
the purpose of exciting it. 

f General Abercromby, in general orders, stated that the ar ny rtaoed 
under his command, from their state of disorganization, would sc/v tie 
much more formidable to their friends than to their enemies; and t>, j* 
would not countenance or admit Free Quarters. 


o* THE IRISH NATION. 


3 4! 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

hafurrection—Topography of Wexford County—Persecutions and cruel 
ties of the Wexford Gentry—Commencement of Hostilities—State ol 
the Insurgents—And their number—Expected attack on Dublin— 
Excellent plan ot the Insurgents—Executions in cold blood, and bar¬ 
barous exhibition in the Castle yard—Major Bacon executed withou 
trial—Major Foot defeated—Col. Walpole defeated and killed—Gen¬ 
eral Fawcett defeated—General Dundas and the Cavalry defeated by 
the Pikemen—Captain Armstrong’s treachery—Henry and John 
Shears—The execution of the two brothers—Progress of the insur¬ 
rection—Different Battles—Important Battle of Arklow—Spirited reply 
of Colonel Skerrit—Battle of Ross—Bagenal Harvey—Death of Lord 
Mountjoy—Unprecedented instance of Heroism in a Boy—The Royal 
Army driven out of the town—Description of Vinegar Hill—Details 
of the Engagement---General Lake’s horse shot under him—Ennis- 
cortiiy twice stormed—Wounded peasants burned—Mr. Grogan tried 
,>y Court Martial—His witness shot by the military—Bill of attainder 
—Ten thousand pounds costs to the Attorney General—Barbarous ex¬ 
ecution of Sir Edward Crosby and Mr. Grogan, under colour of a 
Court Martial. 

I. These sanguinary transactions will, in the opinions of 
posterity, be placed to the account of those who might 
have prevented them. The success of the illiterate in¬ 
surgents at the commencement, nearly confirmed them in 
the idea of their cause being divine : they were led to 
hope, that, by their numbers, impetuosity, and persever¬ 
ance, they could obtain their liberation from an oppres¬ 
sive Government and a tyrannical aristocracy. The 
ignorance or indiscretion of many of the king’s officers 
who had encountered them, excited their contempt, while 
their own natural habits and instinctive tact led them to 
a system of ambuscade and stratagem, which, in many 
instances proved disastrous to the king’s forces. The 
pike, at the commencement, very frequently succeeded 
against the regular, and always against the yeoman 
cavalry ; and, in close combat with even the infantry, it 
proved in some instances irresistible.* 

• The extreme expertness with which the Irish handled the pike wa* 


346 


RISE AND FALL 


Almost all countries possess some national weapon, in 
the use of which the inhabitants are more expert than at 
any other, and their superiority at which is evinced in 
every insurrection. The Highland broadsword and tar¬ 
get, m the rebellions of Scotland, were eminently suc¬ 
cessful; the Polish lances, the American rifle, and the 
Indian tomahawk, were often as successful against regu¬ 
lar troops. 

II. Wexford, though so near the metropolis, is not a 
frequented county, as it is not a direct thoroughfare to any 
other part of the kingdom: the towns of Gorey, Arklow, 
and Wicklow intervene between Wexford and Dublin. 
The king’s troops were in possession of Arklow, and the 
country to the metropolis, through Wicklow. They in¬ 
terrupted the communication between Wexford and the 
Wicklow mountains ; and, on that side, left the Wexford 
insurgents almost isolated in their original position. 

In the interior of the county, however, the insurgents 
had many strong positions ; and, on the south side, the 
town of New Ross was the only impediment to their 
making themselves masters of Waterford, where they 
were certain of being immediately joined by the Munster 
insurgents, particularly by the Waterford and Tipperary 
men, the most numerous and efficient in the kingdom ; 
and this possession of New Ross gave rise to one of the 
most bloody and most protracted battles ever fought in 
Ireland. 

The reckless ferocity, so natural to men resisting op¬ 
pression, here had full scope for its terrific development. 
The peasantry of that country were, in a great proportion, 
of English descent; they had been taught that it was 
right to separate themselves from England; and they 

surprising; by withdrawing, they could shorten it to little more than the 
length of a dagger, and, in a second, dart it out to its full extent. At 
Old Kilcullen, they entirely repulsed General Dundas, and the heavy 
cavalry, in a regular charge, killing two captains and many soldiers: 
the General escaped with great difficulty, by the fleetness of his horse. 
At New Ross, they entirely broke the heavy horse by their pikes. A 
solid mass, or deep column of determined pikemen, could only be broken 
by artillery, or a heavy fire of musketry: well-served artillery they 
could not withstand, if not close enough to be rushed upon. Colonel 
Foot’s detachment of infantry was nearly annihilated by the pike tl 
Ouiart; only the major and two others escaped. 


>F THE IRISH NATION. 


347 


were filled with that dreadful doctrine, that, “ if the object 
be good, the means are immaterial.” 

Upon this doctrine, however, many of the higher orders 
had unequivocally acted. A portion of the gentry of the 
county of Wexford were boisterous, overbearing, and de¬ 
void of judgment; their Christian principles were merged 
in their Protestant ascendency. The frenzy of an exter¬ 
minating principle seemed to have taken root amongst 
them ; and they acted as if under the impression, that 
burning every cottage, and torturing every cottager, were 
a meritorious proof of their faith and loyalty. Great 
and most unwarrantable excesses had been practised by 
tome of the Protestant gentry on the lower orders: some 
of them were nearly as savage, and certainly as sangui¬ 
nary as the most vicious of the insurgents. Those men 
committed their loyal brutalities without calculating that 
a single victory might enable the insurgents to retaliate. 

The conduct of the Wexford gentry was held out, by 
insurgent leaders, to the inflamed population, as a system 
to be retaliated ; nor is it possible to deny, that natural 
justice gave some colour to that sanguinary doctrine. 
The lower orders uninstructed in the distinction between 
the rights of Government and the mad excesses of the 
bigoted gentry or tyrannical functionaries, naturally mis¬ 
took retaliation for justice, and followed exactly the course 
of devastation which had been inflicted upon themselves. 
The mansions of the gentry experienced the same fate 
which the gentry had inflicted on the cottages. The in¬ 
surgents considered every Protestant a tyrant; the Pro¬ 
testants proclaimed every Catholic a rebel; reason was 
banished, mercy was denounced, and the reciprocal thirst 
for blood became insatiable. 

111. Actual hostilities now commenced by skirmishes 
round the city of Dublin, and several simultaneous at¬ 
tacks were made by the insurgents, upon various posts and 
garrisons, with surprising pertinacity. They had neither 
officers, regular arms, nor discipline ; their plans, there¬ 
fore, though acutely devised, could have no certainty of 
regular or punctual execution ; yet a masterly system of 
tactics, of combinations, and of offensive warfare had 
been originally determined upon. Though these, in a 
great measure, had been frustrated by the death of Lord 


MS 


RISE AND FALL 


Edward Fitzgerald, and the arrest of the Directory, they 
were executed sufficiently to prove that there had been 
the plan of an effectual resistance to the Government. 

The number of the insurgents is utterly impossible to 
be stated with accuracy. There then existed in Ireland 
at least 125,000 effective men at arms, who, from the 
smallness of the island, could be collected and mai shaded 
in a week throughout the entire kingdom.* 

The insurgents were unpaid—many of them nearly 
unclothed, few of them well armed, all of them undisci¬ 
plined, with scarcely any artillery, no cavalry, their pow¬ 
der and ammunition mostly prepared by themselves, no 
tents or covering, no money, no certainty of provisions, 
obedience to their chiefs, and adherence to their cause, 
were altogether voluntary. Under these circumstances, 
their condition must have been precarious, and their 
numbers variable. No one leader amongst them bad 
sufficient power to control or counteract their propensities, 
yet they fought with wonderful perseverance, address, 
and intrepidity.! 

* Some of the returns stated that above four hundred thousand men 
had been sworn, and privately drilled; but little faith can be placed in 
any document on the subject. Had the cause continued to succeed, the 
numbers would have been double. In 1782, above one hundred thousand 
Independent Volunteers were well clothed, armed, and disciplined, an 1 
about fifty thousand more of an inferior description, were assembled 

f One of the insurgents in the town of Wexford, with whom I wai 
well acquainted, gave me much information, and a great insight into th i 
transactions of that county. He was a rational man, and disgusted witl 
both parties, he would have been neutral, but neutrality was impos¬ 
sible ; and Mr. Taylor, a Royalist, and a man of truth and integrity, 
whom the insurgents, on pain of death, had forced to print their procla¬ 
mation, gave me many of their documents, and a great deal of intelli¬ 
gence. I collected, on all hands, that, on the first rising, there were nol 
five thousand insurgents to attack the town of Wexford; but that the 
King’s troops having evacuated the place, with a considerable force, and 
without any effort to defend it, and being harassed on their retreat, this 
first and most important success had its immediate effect, and before 
noon the next day more than twenty thousand Wexford men had flocked 
to their standards, and the} hourly increased in number while success was 
possible. At the battle of New Ross, I was assured that Bagenal Har¬ 
vey had thirty thousand, at the battle of Arklow there were more than 
20,000: and, as the most unequivocal proof of their formidable num¬ 
bers, at the engagement of Vinegar Hill, General Lake did not think il 
advisable to attack them with less than twenty thousand reg^ar troops anj 


OF THE IRISH NATION, 


349 


IV. A night attack on the metropolis had been long 
meditated by the united Irishmen, but its early execution 
had not been anticipated by the Government. The Lord 
Lieutenant ascertained that such an attempt was to be 
made on the 23d of May, 1798, by a large body of in¬ 
surgents then collecting on the north of Swords and 
Santry, and on the south under the Rathfarnham moun¬ 
tains less than five miles from the city. Of their num¬ 
bers, leaders, arms, or tactics, every body was ignorant, 
all was confusion and every report was extravagantly 
exaggerated. The regular garrison, and the yeomanry, 
prepared themselves with the utmost animation, but 
nobody knew his station, or could ascertain his duty. 
Orders were issued, and immediately revoked, positions 
were assigned and countermanded, more confused, inde¬ 
cisive, and unintelligible arrangements of a military 
nature never appeared. 

No probable point of attack was signified, and the only 
principle of defence appeared to be comprised in one sen¬ 
tence, “ every man for himself, and God for us all.” 
Lord Clare appeared the most busy and active, as far as 
his tongue extended. Confidence and bravery were re¬ 
commended in all quarters ; but a very serious uneasiness 
was perceptible throughout the metropolis ; his Lordship’s 
activity was confined to the council chamber, and to the 
upper court of the castle. 

As night approached, orders were given that the yeo- 

a considerable artillery. Cavalry and mortars were brought to force their 
line, and even against such an attack they made a long and desperate re¬ 
sistance, and retreated from that large and disciplined army with very 
little (comparative) loss. 

I had every reason to believe (and I omitted no means of ascertaining 
the reality's that above thirty-five thousand men had risen in the county 
of Wexford alone. This species of computation may, therefore, be 
indulged in as theory, certainly not as a true criterion. Wexford is only 
one of thirty-two counties, by no means the most populous, and far 
from the most extensive. Had the rising been general, the northern 
counties might have furnished as many, the southern counties more, and 
the midland less than Wevford. A rough (but no doubt uncertain) aver¬ 
age, may be drawn from these data, as to what the possible or probable 
amount of insurgents might have been, throughout the entire kingdom, 
if the struggle had been protracted. It is equally clear, that had tht 
insurgents possessed arms, officers, and discipline, their numbers would 
toon have rendered them masters of the kingdom. 

so 


a&j 


RISE AND FALL 


men, cavalry and infantry, should occupy Sinithfield. 
which was, at length, considered as the probable point of 
attack from Santry, where the peasantry were reported 
to have collected in the greatest numbers. The yeomen, 
amongst whom were nearly eight hundred attorneys, horse 
and foot, turned out. Their infantry was effective, and 
their cavalry excellent. The gradations of their disci¬ 
pline and enthusiasm were, however, extremely amusing; 
those, who had imbibed their full quantum of generous 
fluids, were the most fierce and enthusiastic: others who 
had dined on substantial matters, were as steady as posts. 
But those who had been paraded before dinner, after 
standing under arms for some hours, could endure it no 
longer, and a forced loan of cheese, tongues, and bottled 
porter, from a Mr. Murray, of Great George’s-street, was 
unanimously decided upon, and immediately carried into 
execution. The barristers, commanded by Captain Saurin, 
were from their position likely to sustain the first onset 
of the pikemen; and as night closed, such a scene of 
military array never was, and probably never will be wit¬ 
nessed. Smithfield is a long and very wide street, open 
at both ends, one of which is terminated by the quays and 
river. It is intersected by narrow streets, and formed 
altogether one of the most disagreeable positions in which 
an immense body of demi-disciplined men and horses 
ever were stationed in solid mass, without any other order 
than, “ if you are attacked , defend yourselves to the last 
extremity .” 

The cavalry and infantry were, in some places, so 
compactly interwoven, that a dragoon could not wield his 
sword without cutting down a foot soldier, nor a foot 
soldier discharge his musket without knocking down a 
trooper. The cavalry being elevated, could breathe freely 
in the crowd ; but the infantry could scarcely avoid 
suffocation. A few hundred insurgents, with long pikes, 
coming on rapidly in the dark, might, without difficulty, 
have assailed the yeomen at once from five different 
points. The Barristers and Attorneys’ corps occupied 
three of those points. So much for Geueral Craig’s 
tactics. 

The danger was considered imminent, the defence 
impracticabl e; yet there was a cheerful, thoughtless 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


351 


jocularity' with which the English nation, under grave 
circumstances, are totally unacquainted; and plain matter 
of fact men can scarcely conceive that renovating levity 
which carries an Irish heart buoyantly over every wave, 
which would swamp, or at least water-log, their more 
steady fellow-subjects. All the barristers, attorneys, 
merchants, bankers, revenue officers, shopkeepers, students 
of the University, doctors, apothecaries, and corporators, 
of an immense metropolis, in red coats, with a sprinkling 
of parsons, all doubled up together, awaiting in profound 
daikness (not with impatience), for invisible executioners 
to dispatch them without mercy, was not (abstractedly) 
a situation to engender much hilarity. Scouts now and 
then came, only to report their ignorance, a running buzz 
occasionally went round, that the videts were driven in— 
and the reports of distant musketry, like a'twitch of 
electricity, gave a slight but perceptible movement to 
men’s muscles. A few (faintly heard) shots on the north 
side also seemed to announce that the vanguard of the 
Santry men was approaching. In the mean time, no 
further orders came from the general, and if there had, 
no orders could have been obeyed. It appeared, at break 
of day, that both the Santry and Rathfarnham. men had 
adjourned their main assault till some other opportunity. 

The different corps now got more regular, the bands 
struck up “God save the King”—the danger of the night, 
in ail its ramifications, re-occupied the tongue of every 
soldier in Smithfield; and at length an order came from 
General Craig (Lord Roden being victorious in a skir¬ 
mish), to dismiss the troops, and to parade again in the 
evening. Never was an order obeyed with more alacrity, 
and never did insurgents lose so favourable an opportunity 
of covering a field of battle with more distinguished 
carcases. 

The insurgents on the south intended to take the castle 
by surprise, whilst the Santry men assailed the barracks; 
but their plan was disconcerted by Lord Roden, at the 
head of his dragoons (called the fox hunters, from their 
noble horses). His Lordship marched rapidly upon them, 
and surprised the few who had collected; and, being 
supported by a small number of light infantry, the attack 
completely succeeded. A few were sabred, and some few 


352 


RISE AND FALL 


made prisoners; but the body dispersed with little r»-»ist« 
ance. Lord Roden received a ball on his helmet, but 
was only bruised, and some dragoons were wounded ; the 
other (county of Dublin) men retreated to join the Kildare 
men ; the southern marched to unite themselves with those 
of Wicklow. Their plan had been excellent, had they 
acted steadily on it, success was not improbable ; however, 
the metropolis for some time had no further dread of 
molestation. 

A new, disgusting, and horrid scene was next morning 
publicly exhibited ; after which military executions com¬ 
menced, and continued with unabating activity. Some 
dead bodies of insurgents, sabred the night before by Lord 
Roden’s dragoons, were brought in a cart to Dublin, with 
some prisoners tied together; the carcases were stretched 
out in the Castle yard, where the Viceroy then resided, 
and in full view of the Secretary’s windows; they lay on 
the pavement as trophies of the first skirmish, during a 
hot day, cut and gashed in every part, covered with 
clotted blood and dust, the most frightful spectacle which 
ever disgraced a royal residence, save the seraglio. After 
several hours exposure, some appearance of life was per¬ 
ceived in one of the mutilated carcases. The man had 
been stabbed and gashed in various parts; his body was 
removed into the guard-room, and means were taken to 
restore animation; the efforts succeeded, he entirely 
recovered, and was pardoned by Lord Camden; he was 
an extraordinarily fine young man, above six feet high, 
the son of a Mr. Keough, an opulent landholder of Rath- 
farnham ;"he did not, however, change his principles, and 
was, ultimately, sent out of the country. 

That morning, the yeomanry corps were called upon 
to attend the execution of Lord Roden’s prisoners, who 
were ordered to be hanged from the lamp irons, or on the 
bridges. It was a service the respectable corps declined, 
several, however, went individually as spectators. The 
first victim to that arbitrary and ill-judged execution, was 
a Mr. Led witch, of Ruthfarnham, the brother of a Catho¬ 
lic clergyman.* 

* He was a remarkably large and heavy person, and was hanpred on 
one of the bridges. By the inexperience of the executioner, Mr. Led- 
witch suffered a prolonged and cruel death; the rope frequently vyped, 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


353 


Others were executed at the same time; some of the 
lamplighters also paid with their lives for their former 
night’s omission, and blood began to flow with but little 
mercy. Bacon (a Major of the old volunteers), was caught 
in a female garb, endeavouring to quit the city ; and 
under a general order to execute, forthwith, all persons 
found in disguise, he was led to Carlisle Bridge, and 
hanged from the scaffolding. These species of executions 
became common, and habit soon reconciled men to what 
was not only disgusting, but horrible. 

Y. Martial law was now proclaimed, and the courts 
of justice closed, except on civil subjects. The barristers 
pleaded in their uniform, with their side-arms, one of the 
judges (Baron Medge) appeared on the bench in the same 
uniform, the names of the inmates of every house were 
pasted on every door, fabricated reports of massacres and 
poisonings were daily propagated, the city assumed, 
altogether, the appearance of one monstrous barrack, or 
slaughter-house. The attacks on the royal garrisons in 
Kildare and Dublin counties, were in many places unsuc¬ 
cessful ; on other points the insurgents entirely succeeded, 
and no quarter was granted on either side. The town of 
Prosperous was taken, and the garrison were killed by the 
peasantry. 

On the Wexford side the insurgents, at first, were 
almost uniformly successful; they took Wexford without 
resistance; the garrison retreated with mu^h fighting and 
some loss. Enniscorthy was stormed by the peasantry, 
and, after a desperate conflict, most of the town was 
burned, and a great portion of the garrison cut to pieces; 
the residue escaped, with great difficulty, through the 
flames.* The victory was complete, and gave them the 

and gave away; at length, his legs were tied up behind his back, and, 
after much struggling and dragging, he was dispatched with very consid¬ 
erable difficulty. It was a horrid sight. 

* Captain Hay, of the light dragoons, had been taken prisoner some 
time before, and was accused of having acted as a commander of the 
peasantry in that attack, and at Arklow. This report acquired strength, 
from the circumstance that one of his brothers had been hanged as a 
rebel, and another of them had been an active insurgent during the occu¬ 
pation of Wexford. Captain Hay, however, was tried by a court-mar¬ 
tial, and fully acquitted, on ttie ground of compulsion. He also appeared 
to have saved the lives of several loyalists at Enniscorthy, and particu- 

30* 


554 


RISE AND FALL 


possession of that fine position, Vinegar Hill, and the 
total command of an extensive country. 

Major Foot, advancing too confidently with a detach¬ 
ment to Onlart, was totally defeated—only three of his 
corps escaped. Colonel Walpole, an inexperienced offi¬ 
cer, solicited, and, as a court favour, obtained, a com¬ 
mand to attack the insurgent army near Gorey; but he 
was surprised by them near that town; many of the 
troops were destroyed—the Colonel himself fell early in 
the action—the artillery was taken—and the whole corps 
were dispersed, or taken prisoners. The town of Gorey 
was sacked and burned. General Fawcett’s detachment 
was as unfortunate. He marched from Duncannon fort, 
to unite with other corps collecting to attack Wexford : 
but he was himself attacked at the Three Rocks Moun¬ 
tain ; all his artillery was captured; he was utterly routed, 
and with difficulty got back to Duncannon, with some 
relics of his corps. 

In Kildare the success was alternate, but in most in¬ 
stances the regular troops had the advantage; torrents 
of blood were shed, and every idea of mercy seemed ex¬ 
ploded ; acts of ferocity, beyond belief, were committed 
on l>oth sides.* 

General Dundas confidently determined upon breaking 
a solid body of pikemen, by the impetuosity and weight 
of his heavy cavalry. The peasantry, in a deep close 
column, and under the ruined church of Old Kilcullen, 
received them on their pikes: two captains were killed, 
with many of the heavy cavalry, and the General escaped 

larly a Mrs. Ogle’s sister, whom he carried through the flames of a burn¬ 
ing street, and a fire of musketry. 

* It is a singular fact, that in all the ferocity of the conflict, the storm¬ 
ing of towns and of villages, women were uniformly respected by the 
insurgents. Though numerous ladies fell occasionally into their power, 
they never experienced any incivility or misconduct. But the foreign 
troops in our service (Hompesch's) not only brutally ill-treated, but oc¬ 
casionally shot gentlewomen. A very respectable married woman in 
Enniscorthy (Mrs. Stringer, the wife of an attorney) was wantonly shol 
at her own window by a German, in cold blood. The rebels (though 
her husband was a royalist) a short time after took some of those foreign 
soldiers prisoners, and piked them all, as they told them— “just to teach 
them how to shoot ladies .” Martial law always affects both sides; retal¬ 
iation becomes the law of nature wherever municipal laws are not in 
operation; it is a remedy that should never be resorted to but in extremis. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


355 


win difficulty. The same body was attacked igain the 
same day, with artillery , and quickly broken; but not 
till lanes had been repeatedly cut through them by 
round shot. 

The removal of the troops into the camps of Laugb- 
linston and the Naul, heretofore mentioned, gave rise to 
one of the most melancholy episodes of this history. At 
Laughlinston (seven miles from Dublin) some thousand 
men, mostly Irish militia, were encamped by L^rd Car- 
hampton. The United Irishmen sent emissaries to the 
camp; and disaffection was rapidly proceeding amongst 
troops. It was disclosed to Government by a Captain 
Armstrong, of the King’s County Militia, who also did 
what every principle should have imperatively prohibited. 

He was prevailed upon at the Castle, for a reward, to 
ingratiate himself, as a brother conspirator, amongst the 
higher classes; and to encourage their proceedings, so as 
to gain proofs of their guilt, through their implicit confn 
dence in his fidelity. He then became an evidence even 
to death, against those whose culpability he had encou¬ 
raged, and attended to execution the very gentlemen 
whom he made victims to their confidence in his integrity. 

Captain Armstrong thus wormed himself into the con¬ 
fidence of the leaders, with the design of betraying them: 
his treachery was preorganized; and he proved himself 
a worse man and a more competent conspirator than 
those whom he made his victims. He had the honour 
of an officer, and the integrity of a gentleman to sustain; 
yet he deliberately sacrificed both, and saw two barris¬ 
ters executed through his treachery. 

VI. Messrs. Henry and John Sheares were of the Irish 
bar, and of a respectable family, Henry, the elder, had a 
competent fortune, and was an excellent domestic person, 
with a most amiable family; he had received a univer¬ 
sity education, but was not possessed of talent—plain 
and friendly, occasionally warm, generally credulous, and 
always full of prejudices, his mind was never strong 
enough to resist his feelings, and though unexceptionable 
in private character, he had neither capacity, firmness, 
nor discretion for a public life. The younger brother, 
John, was tall, fair, handsome, and of gentlemanly ad¬ 
dress; his countenance was sensible, and, firm to inflexb 


356 


VISE AND FALL 


bility, with much more ta ent than his brother, lie guided 
him at his discretion. They were inseparable as brothers, 
aiid were united by an almost unparalleled attachment. 
Mr. John Sheares, upon the arrest of the others, became 
one of the executive directory of the United Irishmen, 
and, as a necessary consequence, Henry was a participa¬ 
tor, and aided in procuring emissaries to seduce the troops 
at Laughlinston. There Captain Armstrong became 
acquainted with the two brothers, pledged to them his 
friendship, persuaded them that he would seduce his own 
regiment, gained their implicit confidence, faithfully ful¬ 
filled the counterplot, devised secret meetings, and worked 
up sufficient guilt to sacrifice the lives of both. They 
were arrested, tried, on his evidence convicted, and were 
hanged and beheaded in the front of Newgate. They 
came hand in hand to the scaffold : this was one of the 
most interesting trials in Ireland. 

It is only justice to Lord Clare, to record an incident 
which proves that he was not insusceptible of humane 
feelings, and which often led me to believe that his nature 
might have been noble, had not every feeling of modera¬ 
tion been absorbed by that ambition, the fatal disappoint¬ 
ment of which, at length hastened his dissolution. 

By some unfortunate delay, a letter of Henry Sheares 
to me was not delivered till eleven o’clock of the morning 
after the trial. I immediately waited on Lord Clare, he 
read it with great attention ; l saw he was moved ; his 
heart yielded. I improved on the impression; he only 
said: “ What a coward he is! but what can we do ?”—he 
paused—“ John Sheares cannot be spared. Do you think 
Henry can say any thing, or make any species of disco¬ 
very, which may authorize the Lord Lieutenant to make 
a distinction between them? if so, Henry may be re¬ 
prieved.” He read the letter again, and was obviously 
affected. I had never seen him amiable before. “ Go,” 
said he, “ to the prison; the execution will be deferred 
for one hour. See Henry Sheares, ask him this question 
and return to me at Cooke’s office.” I lost no time, but 
l found, on my arrival, that orders had been given that 
nobody should be admitted without a wi 'tten permission, 
I instantly returned to the castle—they were all at coun¬ 
cil, Cooke was not in his office, I was delayed several 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


35? 


mi miles. At length the secretary returned, gave me the 
order to see them, and to the sheriff to delay the execu¬ 
tion for one hour. I hastened to Newgate, and arrived 
at the very moment that the executioner was holding up 
the head of my old college friend, and saying, “ Here is 
the head of a traitor .” I felt deeply affected. 

VIL This insurrection, which commenced on the 23d 
of May, 1798, and concluded in a few months, produced 
a greater effusion of blood, more ferocity, and more de¬ 
vastation than ever were witnessed in Ireland within an 
equal period. Partial battles and skirmishes were inces¬ 
sant, but general engagements were not numerous. 

It was generally in small bodies that the insurgents 
were successful. The principal battles were those of 
Arklow, Gorey, and Vinegar Hill, and the storming of 
Enniscorthy and Ross by the peasantry. At Arklow, in 
a regular line, the peasantry assailed a disciplined army 
in the field, and the result was a drawn battle. At Ross, 
after storming and gaining the town, after ten hours in¬ 
cessant fighting, they surrendered themselves to drunk¬ 
enness and plunder, and were slaughtered in their 
inebriety. 

At Vinegar Hill, the entrenchments were defended for 
several hours, though attacked by twenty thousand regular 
troops, with ordnance, and the loss of the insurgents was 
disproportionately small. They retired unpursued, and 
soon formed another army, and marched to the very 
heart of Ireland. 

At Gorey, Carnew, the Three Rocks, and numerous 
places where they fought in ambuscades, they always 
succeeded; and had they confined themselves to desultory 
attacks and partisan warfare, they might soon have de¬ 
stroyed their local enemies the yeomen, and wearied and 
exhausted the regular troops. After the storming of 
Gorey, had they succeeded in taking Arklow, they might 
have marched to the metropolis in one day, 

VIII. To protect Arklow, therefore, was imperatively 
necessary, yet it was but poorly garrisoned, and totally 
unprovided with ammunition or provisions’. The garrison 
were considerably less than one thousand men, princi¬ 
pally irregular troops, and not a field-work or other pre¬ 
paration had been made to defend the place. An old 


B2> 8 


RISE AND FALL 


barrack, incapable of defence, was their only fortification, 
four pieces of field artillery their only ordnance, and a 
party of the Ancient Britons, commanded by Sir W. W. 
Wynn in person, and a few yeomen, their only cavalry. 
The insurgents had collected nearly thirty thousand men 
at the ruined town of Gorey, within a few miles of Arklow, 
which they boldly but indiscreetly declared they would 
storm the ensuing morning. The alarm of the metropolis 
at this intelligence, may be easily conceived. An imme¬ 
diate reinforcement of the garrison of Arklow could alone 
prevent an attack on Dublin, and an insurrection of the 
populace. The Cavan militia, commanded by the pre¬ 
sent Lord Farnham, were instantly despatched to succour 
General Needham, but the distance being more than 
thirty miles, they were hurried off in every sort of vehicle; 
and even the carriages of the nobility and gentry were 
seized or tendered for the occasion. 

This was the most regular engagement throughout the 
whole of the insurrection. The pikemen amounted to 
many thousands—the king’s troops were under fifteen 
hundred—the fire-arms on each side were nearly equal 
in number, but those of the insurgents were of every 
calibre and description, whilst their powder was carried 
in horns or in the pocket, and was but scantily supplied. 

The Cavan regiment arrived at the critical minute. 
The conflict was in a level field at the extremity of the 
town ; the royal infantry being in a line on open ground, 
with two pieces of cannon at each wing ; the peasantry, 
with fire-arms, were drawn up in a line exactly parallel, 
with a very low ditch in front, and two pieces of artillery 
on each flank ; small flags of green and yellow waved in 
every part of their position. The fire began as regularly 
as between disciplined armies—no movements were made 
on either side; the pikemen formed a crescent on a range 
of hills just over the royalists, and waited for any dis¬ 
order to rush down and exterminate them. An uninter¬ 
rupted fire was kept up by both parties for some hours, 
without any manoeuvre, and with very little comparative 
execution. At length the insurgents dismounted one of 
the royal cannon, killed the gunners, and the battle was 
becoming doubtful. The left flank of the royal army was 
pioteeted by some ca' airy and houses, and tiie right by 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


359 


(heir barracks, and a piece of artillery which commanded 
the road. The peasantry had no pre-arranged plan of 
attack, and their immense body of pikemen remained in¬ 
active on the eminence, a few hundred yards from the 
scene of action. The royal officers became alarmed : 
had the insurgents’ ammunition lasted, and the pikemen 
charged, the danger would have been realised. General 
Needham, and most of the officers were disposed to retire, 
as a matter of necessity; but Colonel Skerritt, of the 
Dumbarton fencibles, resolutely declared that his regi¬ 
ment never should retreat. A retrogade movement 
would have given an opportunity for a rush of the pike¬ 
men, which must have ended in the annihilation of the 
royal force. No quarter was expected upon either side. 
Had the royal troops advanced, they might have been 
easily surrounded ; their alternative was, to succeed or 
perish. The ammunition of the royal army began to 
fail ; but fortunately that of the peasantry was first ex¬ 
hausted. The firing gradually slackened, and, at length 
a very ferocious attack was made on the right wing, by 
a large body of pikemen, led by Father Murphy; a four- 
bounder opened its fire, and Father Murphy received a 
.jail which tore him to pieces. The insurgents, thus dis¬ 
pirited, advanced no farther; and after an effort on the 
left, repulsed by some Ancient Britons, they began to re¬ 
treat, but without precipitation. The royal army did not 
think it prudent to pursue, but retired to their barracks, 
whilst the peasantry fell back, unmolested, to Gorey. 
Thus concluded a battle by no means the most, sangui¬ 
nary, but, certainly, one of the most important of the in¬ 
surrection. Had the peasantry succeeded, they would 
have been reinforced every mile of their march to Dublin, 
by the excited population of Wexford and Wicklow. 
Kildare, Meath, and Westmeath were in arms, and the 
capital itself had more than 30,000 organized United 
Irishmen within its walls ; and, however intrepidly de¬ 
fended, must have yielded in a river of blood to the in¬ 
numerable hosts of its enthusiastic assailants. Their 
failure, however, in the principal attacks in Kildare and 
Wicklow, had dispirited and disorganized a multitude 
without officers to direct them, and Ireland was thus 
eaved. More than 30,000 peasantry were actually pro- 


RJSE AND FALL 


360 

sent at the battles of Ross and Arklow ; and Wexford and 
Wicklow are by no means the most populous counties. 
At a very moderate computation, there were, in Wexford 
and Wicklow, at least 50,000 effective insurgents, either 
under arms, or prepared to take arms, had their measures 
continued to be successful. Their courage and perseve¬ 
rance may be estimated by the extraordinary incidents 
of the battle of Ross, which lasted ten hours with alter¬ 
nate success, and in which they were finally conquered, 
Duly by their insubordination, and the incapacity of their 
readers. 

IX. The battle of Ross, with respect to its incidents 
and extensive results, was one of the most important of 
the insurrection. Ross is surrounded on three sides by 
sleep hills, and on the fourth by a river, dividing it from 
the southern counties, and having a long wooden bridge. 
The possession of Ross, therefore, would open a commu¬ 
nication with the southern insurgents, who were prepared 
to rise, en masse , the moment their friends should occupy 
that town ; and the city of Waterford, and probably the 
whole of the western and southern counties would have 
risen in their favor. Nearly 30,000 insurgents assembled 
on Corbet-Hill, near the town of Ross. Their General, 
Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, was, of all men, probably 
the most unfit for so desperate an enterprise ; his figure 
* '.minutive, his voice tremulous. 

He was a Protestant barrister of fortune ; good tem- 
^ fired, and of good private character; and was selected 
from being lord of Bragay Castle, and of considerable 
demesnes in the county of Wexford. Of individual 
courage he had sufficient, but of that manly heroic intre¬ 
pidity which converts danger into enthusiasm, and is in¬ 
dispensable to the leader of such an army and such a 
cause, he was altogether unsusceptible. The other offi¬ 
cers were little better than himself; and an army of 
30,000 intrepid, persevering insurgents, could not pro¬ 
duce one leader of sufficient tact or influence to guide 
and secure to them certain victory. Harvey and his 
aid-de-camp, Mr. Gray, a Protestant attorney, remained 
upon a neighbouring hill, inactive spectators during ten 
hours incessant fighting . 

The first attack commenced at six o’clock in the morn* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


36l 


mg on only one entrance to the town, and that the most 
defensible by the garrison ; all the others were neglected, 
otherwise, the garrison not being sufficiently numerous to 
defend all, the town must have been entered from several 
quarters. A regiment of infantry and one of cavalry 
sallied out to distract the insurgents, and prevent their 
attack upon the other entrances. Both regiments were 
driven back with great loss, the cavalry by a charge of 
bullocks* and pikemen, the infantry by ambuscade and 
irregular attacks. Lord Mountjoy fell at the head of his 
regiment, the Dublin Militia, immediately at the gate ; 
and the royalists and the peasantry entered Ross almost 
intermingled. The main street became the scene of a most 
sanguinary and protracted conflict; the royalists were 
forced back, and their artillery taken and turned on them¬ 
selves. The market-house alone remained in possession 
of the troops; and after a long and bloody contest they 
retreated to the bridge, prepared, if necessary, to pass to 
2he other side, and destroy the communication. Had 
ffiey done this, they must have marched through the very 
heart of an insurgent country, and all would have been 
cut to pieces. There is scarcely a trait of individual 
courage which was not exemplified during that contest ;t 

* At this battle the insurgents practised a ruse de guerre used origin- 
*lly by the Romans. A regiment of heavy cavalry had marched out, to 
charge them on their first approach; they suspected the attack, and were 
prepared to receive them by a very unexpected salutation. They had 
cooped up in a field near two hundred bullocks. When these beasts are 
urged, and rush on in a body, nothing can stop them ; a wall or even a 
house, they have been known to dash against, in their blind fury. 
When the heavy cavalry were in a proper position on the road, the 
rebels, with their pikes, goaded the bullocks; maddened by the smart, 
they rushed to the openings of the enclosure, which had been purposely 
made for them : nothing could withstand them; the cavalry were over¬ 
whelmed ; man and horse were overthrown and trampled upon. Of such 
as could retreat through the gate, several met their death from the pike- 
men. 

f The account, of this battle I have had from many, but from none so 
accurately or circumstantially as from a gentlemen I have been long 
acquainted with, Counsellor Lundy foot, son of the eminent person of 
tual name. He hal some property there, and curiosity led him u. Ross, 
to see what was going forward; just as he got there he found he could 
not get away again, and was obliged to remain, and run his chance 
during the battle. He was a member of the barristers’ infantry, and con¬ 
ceived that no soldier should on such occasions be inactive; he therefor* 

31 


S52 


RISE AND FALL 


the battle occasionally slackened, but never ceased for a 
moment. The peasantry, certain of victory, lost all sub¬ 
ordination ; and, in their turn, were attacked by such of 
the garrison as had time to rally. Many were killed, 
almost without resistance; the town was set on fire, and 
in the midst of th( flames the battle raged for hours most 
violently. The royalists recovered the main street. The 
insurgents were on the point of being finally repulsed, 
when a young gentleman of thirteen years of age, from 
the town of Wexford, of the respectable family of Lett, 
in that town, had stolen away from his mother, and joined 
General Harvey on Corbet Hill. The boy saw the 
dist, 'der of the men, and the incapacity of their leaders, 
and v7ith a boyish impulse he snatched up a standard, 
and calling out “Follow me who dare!” rushed down 
the hill, two or three thousand pikemen rapidly followed 
him in a tumultuous crowd, and uttering the most 
appalling cries. In a moment he was at the gate, rallied 
his party, and with his reinforcement rushed upon the 
garrison, who, fatigued and astonished at the renewed 
vigour of their enemy, were again borne down, and com¬ 
pelled with much loss, fighting step by step, to retire 
towards the bridge. For many hours the firing in the 
streets and houses was incessant; and the peasantry were 
very nearly in possession of the entire place, when again 
all subordination vanished, and again fortune forsook 
them. Some hundred houses were in a blaze ; the horror 
was indescribable. The remaining body of the garrison, 
overcome by fatigue, became nearly unable to continue 
the contest. 

The firing, however, continued till towards night, when 
the insurgents who had not entered the houses, having no 
officers to command them, retreated through the gate by 
which they had entered, half a mile to Corbet Hill, leaving 
some thousands of their comrades asleep in different 
houses, or in the streets to which the flames had not com¬ 
municated. Of these, the garrison put hundreds to the 
sword, without any resistance ; and more than 5000 were 

armed, acted as a Volunteer, and was in the very midst ot the battle 
during the ten hours it continued, lie described to me the desperate 
valour of the peasantry, and confirmed to me a s ory, nearly incredible, 
of their ignorance; namely, an old man thrusth.g a wig into the mouth 
of an adverse cannon, to prevent explosion. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


363 


fither killed or consumed by the conflagration. The 
garrison, greatly diminished and exhausted by ten hours 
incessant fighting, without refreshments, lay down in the 
streets, slumbering amongst the dead; and had Harvey, 
at any hour before morning, returned with even 1000 
fresh men, every soldier might have been slaughtered; 
resistance would have been impossible. 

X. Vinegar Hill is a beautiful, verdant, low mountain; 
the river Slaney rolls smoothly at its foot on the one side, 
and the large town of Enniscorthy lies immediately under 
its base upon another; at one point the ascent is rather 
steep, on the others, gradual; the top is crowned by a 
dilapidated stone building. The hill is extensive, and com¬ 
pletely commands the town and most of the approaches 
to it; the country around it is rich, sufficiently wooded, 
and studded with country seats and lodges. Few spots 
in Ireland, under all its circumstances, can at this moment 
be more interesting to a traveller. On the summit of this 
hill the insurgents had collected the remains of their 
Wexford army; the number may be conjectured, from 
General Lake deciding that 20,000 regular troops were 
necessary for the attack. The peasantry had dug a slight 
ditch around a large extent of the base; they had a very 
few pieces of small half-disabled cannon, some swivels, 
and not above two thousand fire-arms of all descriptions. 
But their situation was desperate ; and General Lake 
considered that two thousand fire-arms, in the hands of 
infuriated and courageous men, supported by a multitude 
of pikemen, might be equal to ten times the number undei 
other circumstances. A great many women mingled with 
their relatives, and fought with fury; several were found 
dead amongst the men, who had fallen in crowds by the 
bursting of shells. 

The circumstantial details of that battle, howevei 
interesting, are too numerous for this volume, a few, how¬ 
ever, are necessary. 

General Lake, at the break of day, disposed his attack 
in four columns, whilst his cavalry were prepared to do 
execution on the fugitives. One of the columns (whether 
by accident or design is strongly debated) did not arrive 
in time at its station, by which the insurgents were 
enabled to retreat to Wexford, through a country where 


m 


RISE AND FALL 


they could not be pursued by cavalry or cannon. It was 
astonishing with what fortitude the peasantry, uncovered, 
stood the tremendous fire opened upon the four sides of 
their position; a stream of shells and grape was poured 
on the multitude ; the leaders encouraged them by exhor¬ 
tations, the women by their cries, and every shell that 
broke amongst the crowd was followed by shouts of de¬ 
fiance. General Lake’s horse was shot, many officers 
wounded, some killed, and a few gentlemen became in¬ 
visible during the heat of the battle. The troops advanced 
gradually but steadily up the hill; the peasantry kept up 
their fire, and maintained their ground, their cannon was 
nearly useless, their powder deficient, but they died fight¬ 
ing at their post. At length, enveloped in a torrent of 
fire, they broke, and sought their safety through the 
space that General Needham had left by the non-arrival 
of his column. They were partially charged by some 
cavalry, but with little execution; they retreated to Wex¬ 
ford, and that night occupied the town. 

During the battle, the pike and blunderbuss were in 
constant exercise; both parties had committed great 
atrocities in cold blood, under the miider term of retalia¬ 
tion. Previous to that battle, Enniscorthy had been 
twice stormed; every street in it had streamed with 
blood; many hundred houses had been burned ; and the 
combats had been hand to hand in the midst of flames and 
falling edifices. It is asserted that eighty-seven wounded 
peasants, whom the king’s army had found on taking the 
town, in the market-house, used as an hospital, had been 
burned alive; and that in retaliation the insurgents burned 
above a hundred royalists in a barn at Scullabogue. 

Amongst the remarkable and melancholy examples of 
the abuse of martial law, and the discretionary power 
given to military officers in Ireland, one which occurred 
on the taking of Wexford is a peculiarly fit subject for 
observation: Mr. Grogan, of Johnstown Castle, a man 
past seventy years of age, of very large fortune, irre¬ 
proachable reputation, with the address, manners, and 
feelings of a gentleman. Overstreet and John, his two 
brothers, commanded yeomanry corps. The first of them 
was killed at the head of his corps (the Castletown Ca¬ 
valry), at the battle of Arklovv. The other was wounded 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


36 h 


at the head of his troop (the Heath field Light Horse) 
during Major Maxwell’s retreat from Wexford, and upon 
the recapture of Wexford. The semblance of a trial was 
thought expedient by General Lake, before he could exe 
cute a gentleman of so much importance and fortune. 
His case was afterwards brought before Parliament upon 
a Bill of attainder, and argued for three successive days, 
and nearly nights, and evidence was produced clearly ex¬ 
onerating him from any voluntary error. The only charge 
the Government, (to excuse the culpability of General 
Lake) could prove, was his having been surrounded by 
the insurgent army, which placed him under surveillance, 
and who, to give importance to themselves, forced him 
one day into the town of Wexford, on horseback, a pea¬ 
sant of the name of Savage attending him, with a blun¬ 
derbuss, and orders to shoot him if he refused to obey 
their commands ; against his will, they nominated him 
a commissary, knowing that his numerous tenantry would 
be more willing in consequence to supply them. He used 
no weapon of any description, too feeble even to hold one 
in his hand. 

A lady, of the name of Segrave, gave evidence that 
her family in the town were in want of food, and that she 
sent to Mr. Grogan to give her an order for some bread, 
which request, to save her family from starving, he reluc¬ 
tantly complied with. Through that order, she procured 
some loaves, and supplied her children; and for that act 
of benevolence, and on that lady’s evidence, Mr. Grogan 
was sentenced to die as a traitor, and was immediately 
hanged and beheaded, when unable to walk to the place 
ot execution, and already almost lifeless from age, impri- 
soment, pain and brutal treatment. It appeared before Par* 
liament, upon interrogating the President of the Court, that 
the members of the Court Martial which tried him had not 
been sworn, that they were only seven instead of thirteen, 
the usual number, that his material witness was shot by 
the military, while on the road, between Johnstown Castle 
and Wexford, to give evidence of Mr. Grogan’s entire in¬ 
nocence ; and that, while General Lake was making merry 
at dinner (with his statf and some members of the Court 
that condemned him), one of the first gentlemen in the 
county (in every point far his superior), was hanged and 


566 


RISE AND PALL 


mutilated before his windows. The author’s intin.ate 
knowledge of Mr. Cornelius Grogan for many years ena¬ 
bles him to assert most unequivocally, and it is but justice to 
his memory to do so, that, though a person of independent 
mind as well as fortune, and an opposition member of the 
Irish Parliament, he was no more a rebel than his brothers, 
who had signalized themselves in battle as royalists, and 
the survivor of whom was rewarded by the same Govern¬ 
ment, by an unprecedented Bill of attainder against that 
unfortunate gentleman, long after he was dead, by which 
his great, estates were confiscated to the crown. 

This Attainder Bill was one of the most illegal and un¬ 
constitutional acts ever promoted by any Government; 
but, after much more than ten thousand pounds, costs to 
crown officers and to Lord Norbury, as Attorney General, 
had been extracted from the property, the estates were 
restored to the surviving brother. 

XI. These transactions are dreadful, even to the recol¬ 
lection : they were the ruin of the nation and its character, 
but are only mentioned to give some idea of that worst of 
all scourges, civil war, and of the most cruel of all tribu¬ 
nals, courts martial, a situation into which Mr. Pitt craftily 
permitted the Irish nation to fall, in order to promote his 
purpose of a union. The subsequent administration of 
Lord Cornwallis leaves no ground of scepticism upon this 
subject. 

The infliction of torture was incessant, and acts of re¬ 
taliation were as frequent. Gentlemen were executed, 
some with trials, others with worse than none. The exe¬ 
cution of Sir Edward Crosby, was a murder; that of Mr. 
Grogan a butchery. The Viceroy had signed no warrants 
for their executions; he was seldom consulted respecting 
the prisoners, till their fate had been decided; his conduct 
was considerate, where he was not governed by his council. 

The insurrection had been nearly exhausted, and Lord 
Camden, who was considered by Mr. Pitt an unfit person 
to employ for his ulterior objects, was recalled. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


367 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

appointment of Lord Cornwallis—His crafty conduct—French invade 
Ireland in a small number—British troops totally defeated, their artil¬ 
lery all taken—Races of Castlebar—Ninety militia men hanged by 
Lord Cornwallis—French outwit Lord Cornwallis—Lord Jocelyn 
taken prisoner—French surrendered—Mr. Pitt proceeds in his projects 
of a Union—The subserviency of the Lords—The Bishops—Bishops 
of Waterford and Down—Political characters of Lord Cornwallis and 
Lord Castlereagh—Unfortunate results of Lord Cornwallis’s conduct 
in every quarter of the world—Lord Castlereagh—Union proposed— 
Great splendour of the Chancellor—Celebrated Bar Meeting—Mr. 
Saurin—Mr. Saint George Daly—Mr. Thomas Grady—Mr. Grady’s 
curious harangue—Mr. Thomas Goold’s speech—Thirty-two County 
Judges appointed by Lord Clare—Lord Clare opposes the Bar—Open¬ 
ing of the session of 1799 —Lord Clare’s great power—Lord Tyrone’s 
character—Seconded by Mr. Fitzgerald—Mr. John Bali—His character. 

I. Lord Cornwallis was now selected to complete the 
project of a union, and Lord Castlereagh was continued 
as Chief Secretary. His system was, of all others, the 
most artful and insidious ; he affected impartially, whilst 
he was deceiving both parties; he encouraged the United 
Irishman, and he roused the royalist; one day he de¬ 
stroyed, the next day he was merciful. His system, 
however, had not exactly the antiepated effect. Every 
thing gave reason to expect a restoration of tranquillity; 
it was through the impression of horror alone that a union 
cou 11 be effected, and he had no time to lose, lest the 
cou itry might recover its reason. 

A portion of an armament, destined by France to aid 
the Irish insurgents, had escaped our cruisers, and landed 
about a thousand troops at Killala Bay. They entered 
Killala without opposition, surprising the bishop and a 
company of parsons who were on their visitation. Nothing 
could be better than their conduct, and the bishop, in a 
publication on this event, did them ample justice, at the 
expense of his own translation. 

They were joined by a considerable number of pea¬ 
santry, unarmed, unclothed, and undisciplined. But the 


568 


RISE AND PALL 


French did the best they could to render them efficient 
After some stay at Killala, they determined to march into 
the country, and, even with that small force, they ex¬ 
pressed but little doubt of reaching the metropolis. 

Lord Hutchinson commanded the garrison of Castle¬ 
bar a few miles from Killala. His force being pretty 
numerous, with a good train of artillery, he had no suspicion 
that a handful of French would presume to attack him. 

II. General Lake with his staff had just arrived, and 
taken the command (as an elder officer), as Lord Hut¬ 
chinson had determined to march the ensuing day, and 
end the question, by a capture of the French detachment. 
The repose of the generals was of short duration. Early 
in the morning they were roused by an account that the 
French and peasantry were in full march upon them. 
They immediately beat to arms, and the troops were 
moved to a position, about a mile from Castlebar, which, 
to an unskilled person, seemed unassailable. They had 
scarcely been posted, with nine pieces of cannon, when 
the French appeared on the opposite side of a small lake, 
descending a hill in columns, directly in front of the 
English. Our artillery played on them with effect. The 
French kept up a scattered fire of musketry, and took up 
the attention of our army by irregular movements. In 
half an hour, however, our troops were alarmed by a 
movement of small bodies to turn their left, which, being 
covered by walls, they had never apprehended. The 
orders given were either mistaken or misbelieved ; the 
line wavered, and, in a few minutes, the whole of the 
royal army was completely routed, the flight of the in¬ 
fantry was as that of a mob, all the royal artillery was 
taken, our army fled to Castlebar, the heavy cavalry 
galloped amongst the infantry and Lord Jocelyn’s light 
dragoons, and made the best of their way, through thick 
and thin, to Castlebar and towards Tuam, pursued by 
such of the French as could get horses to carry them. 

About nine hundred French and some peasants took 
possession of Castlebar without resistance, except from a 
few Highlanders stationed in the town, who were soon 
destroyed.* 

* The native characterol the French never showed itself more strong¬ 
ly than after this action. When in full possession of the large town oj 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


369 


This battle has been generally called the Races of 
Castlebar. A considerable part of the Louth and Kil¬ 
kenny regiments, not finding it convenient to retreat, 
thought the next best thing they could do would be to 
join the victors, which they immediately did, and in one 
hour were comple'ely equipped as French riflemen. 
About ninety of those men were hanged by Lord Corn¬ 
wallis afterwards at Ballynamuck. One of them defend¬ 
ed himself by insisting, “ that it was the army and not he 
who were deserters ; that whilst he was fighting hard they 
all ran away, and left him to be murdered.” Lord Joce¬ 
lyn got him saved. The defeat of Castlebar, however, 
was a victory to the Viceroy; it revived all the horrors 
of the rebellion which had been subsiding, and the deser¬ 
tion of the militia regiments tended to impress the gentry 
with an idea, that England alone could protect the country. 

Lord Cornwallis was supine, and the insurgents were 
active in profiting by this victory ; 40,000 of them were 
preparing to assemble at the Crooked Wood, in West¬ 
meath, only 42 miles from Dublin, ready to join the 
French and march upon the metropolis. 

III. The French continued too long at Castlebar, and 
Lord Cornwallis at length collected 2U.000 troops, with 
which he considered himself pretty certain of conquering 
900 men. With above 20,000 men, he marched directly 
to the Shannon to prevent their passage, but he was out- 
manceuvered ; the insurgents had led the French to the 
source of that river, and it was ten days before his Lord- 
ship, by the slowest possible marches, (which he did pur¬ 
posely to increase the public terror), reached his enemy. 
But he overdid the matter, and had not Colonel Vereker 
(Lord Gort) delayed them in a rather sanguinary skirmish 
in which he was defeated, it was possible that they might 
have slipped by his Lordship, and have been revelling in 
Dublin, whilst he was roaming about the Shannon : how 
ever, he at length overtook the enemy. Lord Jocelyn’s 

Castlebar, they immediately set about patting their persons in the lest 
order, and the officers advertised a ball and supper that night, for the 
ladies of the town, this, it is said, was well attended; decorum in all 
points was strictly preserved; they paid ready money for every thing; 
in fact, the French army established the French character wherever they 
pccupied. 


370 


RISE AND FALL 


fox-hunters were determined to retrieve their character, 
'ost at Castlebar and a squadron, led by his Lordship, 
made a bold charge upon the French ; but the French 
opened, then closed on them, and they were beaten, and 
his Lordship was made prisoner. 

The French corps, however, saw that ultimate success 
was impossible, having not more than nine hundred French 
troops, and they afterwards surrendered prisoners of war 
without further resistance, after having penetrated to the 
heart of the kingdom. They were sent to Dublin, and 
afterwards to France. 

Horrors now were everywhere recommenced; execu¬ 
tions were multiplied.* Lord Cornwallis marched against 
the peasantry, still masters of Killala; and after a san¬ 
guinary conflict in the streets, the town was taken : some 
were slaughtered, many hanged, and the whole district 
was on the point of being reduced to subjection, when 
Lord Cornwallis most unexpectedly proclaimed an ar¬ 
mistice, and without any terms permitted the insurgents 
freely to disperse, and gave them thirty days, either to 
surrender their arms or be prepared for slaughter; 
leaving them to act as they thought proper in the inter¬ 
val. This interval was terrific to the loyalists; the thirty 
days of armistice were thirty days of new horror, and the 
Government had now achieved the very climax of public 
terror, on which they so much counted for inducing Ire¬ 
land to throw herself into the arms of the protecting 
country. And the first step of Mr. Pitt’s project was 
fully consummated. 

IV. Mr. Pitt now conceived that the moment had ar¬ 
rived to try the effect of his previous measures to pro¬ 
mote a legislative Union, and annihilate the Irish legisla¬ 
ture. He conceived that he had already prepared induce¬ 
ments to suit every temper amongst the Irish Commons: 
in that he was partially mistaken. He believed that he 
had prepared the Irish Peers to accede to all his projects; 
in that he was successful. 

The able, arrogant, ruthless bearing of Lord Clare upon 
the woolsack, had rendered him almost despotic in that 
imbecile assembly; forgetting their high rank, their 

t His Lordship ordered above ninety of the militia to be immediately 
necutf'd. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


371 


country, and themselves, they yielded unresistingly to the 
spell of his dictation, and as the fascinated bird, only 
watched his eye and dropt one by one into the power of 
the serpent. 

The lure of translation neutralized the scruples of the 
Episcopacy. The Bishops yielded up their conscience to 
their interests, and but two of the spiritual Peers could 
be found to uphold the independence of their country, 
which had been so nobly attained, and so corruptly ex¬ 
tinguished. Marly, bishop of Waterford, and Dixon, 
bishop of Down, immortalized their name, and their cha¬ 
racters ; they dared to oppose the dictator, and supported 
the rights of Ireland till she ceased to breathe longer un¬ 
der the title of a Nation. 

This measure, of more vital importance than any that 
has ever yet been enacted by the British legislature, the 
fatal consequences of which are every day displaying, and 
still range far beyond the vision of short-sighted states¬ 
men, was first proposed indirectly by a speech from the 
throne, on the 22d January, 1799. 

The insidious object of that speech to entrap the House 
into a conciliatory reply was seen through, and resisted 
with a vigour which neither the English nor Irish Go¬ 
vernments had ever suspected. The horrors of civil war, 
the barbarities practised on the one side, and sanctioned 
on the other, and the universal consternation of the whole 
kingdom, had, fortunately for Mr. Pitt, excited in many 
the fallacious idea that in the arms of England only Ire¬ 
land could regain and secure tranquillity. 

This shallow principle influenced or deluded many, but 
afforded to a greater number a specious pretence for sup¬ 
porting a measure which their individual or corrupt 
objects only induced them to sanction. 

To do justice or to detail the speeches on this great 
subject, comprising as much eloquence as ever yet ap¬ 
peared in any legislative assembly, would be far too 
extensive a task for this volume. Short abstracts only 
can now be given here, and the leading arguments con¬ 
densed, so as to bring the subject in all its inq ortant 
bearings before the capacity of every reader. 

V. Ireland was now reduced to a state fitted to receive 
propositions for a Union. The loyalists were stik stmg 


372 


RISE AND FALL 


gling through the embers of a rebellicn, scarcely extin¬ 
guished by the torrents of blood which had been poured 
upon them ; the insurgents were artfully distracted be 
tween the hopes of mercy and the fear of punishment; 
the Yiceroy had seduced the Catholics by delusive hopes 
of emancipation, whilst the Protestants were equally 
assured of their ascendency, and every encouragement 
was held out to the sectarians. Lord Cornwallis and 
Lord Castlereagh seemed to have been created for such 
a crisis and for each other. An unremitting perseverance, 
an absence of all political compunctions, an unqualified 
contempt of public opinion, and a disregard of every con¬ 
stitutional principle, were common to both. They held 
that “the object justifies the means;” and, unfortunately, 
their private characters were calculated to screen their 
public conduct from popular suspicion. 

Lord Cornwallis, with the exception of the Union, 
which renders him the most prominent person in Irish 
history, had never succeeded in any of his public mea¬ 
sures. His failure in America had deprived England of 
her colonies, and her army of its reputation; his catas 
trophe at Yorktown gave a shock to the King’s mind, 
from which, it is supposed, he never entirely recovered. 
In India he defeated Tippo Saib, but concluded a peace 
which only increased the necessity of future wars. Weary 
of the sword, he was sent as a diplomatist to conclude 
the peace of Amiens; but, out-manoeuvered by Lucien 
Buonaparte, his Lordship’s treaty involved all Europe in 
a war against England. He had thought to conciliate 
Lucien, by complimenting the First Consul, and sacri¬ 
ficed his sovereign’s honorary title as King of France, 
which had been borne since the conquest of the Edwards 
and the Henrys, while he retained the title of Defender 
of the Faith, corruptly bestowed by the pope on a tyrant.* 
This was the instrument now employed by Mr. Pitt to 
effect the Union. 

* The title of the King of England then was—“ George III. King of 
Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,” and so forth. 
It is very observable, that so distinct did the Kings of England consider 
the two nations, that in three royal titles France was made to intervene 
therein between England and Ireland. It was owing to the act of settle, 
ment, and not through any gift of heaven, that the House of Hanovtt 
mounted the throne of Great Britain. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


373 


VI. Lord Castlereagh had been more than seven years 
in the Irish Parliament, but was undistinguished. In 
private life, his honourable conduct, gentlemanly habits, 
and engaging demeanour, were exemplary. Of his public 
life, the commencement was patriotic, the progress cor¬ 
rupt, and the termination criminal. His first public essay 
was a motion to reform the Irish Parliament, and his last 
to annihilate it. It is impossible to deny a fact so noto¬ 
rious. History, tradition, or the fictions of romance, 
contain no instance of any minister who so fearlessly de¬ 
viated from all the principles which ought to characterize 
the servant of a constitutional monarch, or the citizen of 
a free country. Incontestible facts prove the justice of 
this observation. 

The rebellion had commenced on the 23d of May, 
1798, and on the 22d of January, 1799, a union was pro¬ 
posed. The commercial propositions had taught Mr. 
Pitt that, in a period of tranquillity, nothing could be 
effected with the Irish Parliament by fraud or delusion. 
But for the terrors of the rebellion, the proposal of a 
Union might have united all parties against the Govern¬ 
ment ; and Lord Cornwallis’s unexampled warfare against 
nine hundred Frenchmen, was evidently intended more 
for terror than for victory. 

Mr. Pitt’s project was first decidedly announced by a 
pamphlet, written by Mr. Edward Cooke, the Under¬ 
secretary, entitled, “Arguments for and against a Union 
considered.” It was plausibly written, and it roused the 
people from their confidence that no English minister 
dared propose, or Irishman abet, a destruction of that 
independence which Ireland had possessed less than 
eighteen years. Mr. Cooke was promptly replied to, by 
a pamphlet, entitled, “ Cease your Funning,” a master¬ 
piece of its kind, which, in the garb of wit and irony, 
conveyed the most skilful reasoning, and rendered Mr. 
Cooke’s publication perfectly ridiculous. The author 
was then most deservedly high at the Irish bar, and is 
now its first law dignitary. It was sent to press five days 
after the first line was written. Above a hundred pamph¬ 
lets were published on both sides of the question; but it 
was some time before the whole nation could believe such 
a measure durst be attempted. 

32 


374 


RISE AND FALL 


VIL The Bar in Ireland was formerly not a working 
trade, but a proud profession, filled by gentlemen of birth 
and fortune, who were then residents in their country. 
The Government, the Parliament, every municipality 
then felt the influence of that profession, whose principal 
pride it always was to defend the Constitution. The 
number of offices connected with the law were then com¬ 
paratively few. The estimable Lord Lifford, at his death, 
was succeeded on the woolsack by Lord Clare, who im¬ 
mediately gave the utmost latitude to his arbitrary temper 
and despotic principles as Chancellor. 

He commenced his office with a splendour far exceed¬ 
ing all precedent. He expended four thousand guineas 
or a state carriage; his establishment was splendid, and 
nis entertainments magnificent. His family connections 
absorbed the patronage of the State, and he became the 
most absolute subject that modern times had seen in the 
British islands. His only check was the Bar, which he 
resolved to corrupt. He doubled the number of the 
bankrupt commissioners ; he revived some offices, created 
others, and, under pretence of furnishing each county 
with a local judge, in two months he established thirty- 
two new offices, of about, six or seven hundred pounds 
per annum each. His arrogance in court intimidated 
many whom his patronage could not corrupt; and he had 
no doubt of overpowering the whole profession. 

A meeting of the Bar, however, to discuss the Union, 
was called on the 9th of December, 1799, at the Exhibi¬ 
tion Room, William-street, and Mr. Smith, as the father 
of the Bar, was voted in the chair. Among those who had 
called the meeting were fourteen of the King’s counsel—• 
E. Mayne, W. Saurin, W. C. Plunket, C. Bushe, W 
Sankey, B. Burton, .1. Barrington, A. McCartney, G 
O’Farrell, J. O’Driscoll, J. Lloyd, P. Burrowes, R. Je.bb, 
and H. Joy, Esquires. 

Mr. Saurin opened the debate. His speech was vapid, 
and his resolution unpointed; but he had great influence 
in his profession. He was a moderate Huguenot, and 
grandson of the great preacher at the Hague; he was 
an excellent lawyer, and an amiable, pious Christian. He 
was followed by Captain Spencer, of the barristers 
cavalry. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


375 


Mr. Saint George Daly, a briefless barrister, was the 
first supporter of the Union. Of all men he was the 
least thought of for preferment; but it was wittily ob¬ 
served, “ that the Union was the first brief Mr. Daly had 
spoken from.” He moved an adjournment. 

Mr. Thomas Grady was the Fitzgibbon spokesman— 
a gentleman of independent property, a tolerable lawyer, 
an amatory poet, a severe satirist, and an indefatigable 
quality-hunter. He had written the 11 Flesh Brush” for 
Lndy Clare; the “West Briton,” for the Union; the 
“ Barrister,” for the Bar; and the “ Nosegay,” for a 
banker at Limerick, who sued him successfully for a 
libel. 

“ The Irish,” said Mr. Grady, “ are only the rump of 
an aristocracy. Shall I visit posterity with a system of 
war , pestilence , and famine ?* No! no ! give me a 
Union. Unite me to that country where all is peace, 
and order, and prosperity. Without a Union we shall 
see embryo chief-judges, attorneys general in perspective, 
and animalcula serjeants. All the cities of the south and 
west are on the Atlantic Ocean , between the rest of the 
world and Great Britain; they are all for it —they must 
all become warehouses : the people are Catholics, and 
they are all for it,” &c. <fcc. &c. Such an oration as Mr. 
Grady’s had never before been heard at a meeting of 
lawyers of Europe. 

Mr. John Beresford, Lord Clare’s nephew and purse- 
bearer, followed, as if for the charitable purpose of taking 
the laugh from Mr. Grady, in which he perfectly suc¬ 
ceeded, by turning it on himself. Mr. Beresford aftei* 
wards became a parson, and is now Lord Decies. 

Mr. Goold said—“ There are 40,000 British troops in 
Ireland, and with 40,000 bayonets at my breast, the 
minister shall not plant another Sicily in the bosom of 
the Atlantic. I want not the assistance of divine inspi- 

* Nothing could be more unfortunate than this crude observation of 
Mr. Grady, as the very three evils, war, pestilence, and famine, which 
he declared a union would avert, have since visited, and are still visiting 
the unioned country; which has received aid from England, to avert de¬ 
population by that famine which the result of that Union was a leading 
cause of; and, inoculated with the late plague from Great Britain, they 
are now declaied in a state of war by the British legislature. 


RISE AND FALL 


S^6 

ration to foretell, tor T am enabled by the visible and un¬ 
erring demonstrations of nature to assert, that Ireland 
was destined to be a free and independent nation. Our 
patent to be a state, not a shire, comes direct from heaven. 
The Almighty has, in majestic characters, signed the 
great charter of our independence. The great Creator 
of the world has given our beloved country the gigantic 
outlines of a kingdom. The God of nature never in¬ 
tended that Ireland should be a province, and by G —- 
she never shall.” 

The assembly burst into a tumult of applause; a repe 
tition of the words came from many mouths, and many 
an able lawyer swore hard upon the subject. The divi¬ 
sion was— 

Against the Union, .... 166 

In favour of it,.32 


Majority, . . . 134 

VIII. Thirty-two was the precise number of the 
county judges, and of this minority the following persons 
were afterwards rewarded for their adherence to Lord 
Clare 


List of Barristers who supported the Union, and their respective 

rewards. 


p> 

1 Mr. Charles Osborn, appointed a Judge oi the King's 
Bench, - 

2. Mr. Saint John Daly, appointed a Judge of the King’s 

Bench, ...... 

3. Mr. William Smith, appointed Baron of the Exchequer, 

4. Mr. M‘Cleland, appointed Baron of the Exchequer, 

5. Mr. Robert Johnson, appointed Judge of the Common 

Pleas,. 

6. Mr. William Johnson appointed Judge of the Common 

Pleas, ...... 

7. Mr. Torrens, appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, 

8. Mr. Vandeleur, appointed a Judge of the King’s Bench, • 

9. Mr. Thomas Maunsell, a County Judge, 

10. Mr. William Turner, a County Judge, - 
li Mr. John Scholes, a County Judge, 

12. Mr. Thomas Vickers, a County Judge ... 

13. Mr. J. Homan, a County Judge, 

14. Mr. Thomas Grady, a County Judge, 

\H. Mr John Dwyer, a County Judge, 


Annual 

££3300 


3300 

3300 

3300 

3300 

3300 

3300 

3300 

600 

600 

600 

600 

600 

600 

coo 




OF THE IRISH NATION. 377 

Per Annum 

16. R1r. George Leslie, a County Judge, ... <£600 

17. Mr. Thomas Scott, a County Judge, ... goo 

18. Mr. Henry Brook, a County Judge, ... goo 

19. Mr. James Geraghty, a County Judge, ... goo 

20. Mr. Richard Sharkey, a County Judge, ... goo 

21. Mr. William Stokes, a County Judge, - gOO 

22. Mr. William Roper, a County Judge, ... goo 

23. Mr. C. Garnet, a County Judge, . - - fiOO 

24. Mr. Jemison, a Commissioner for the distribution of one 

million and a half Union compensation, - - 1200 

25. Mr. Fitzgibbon Henchy, Commissioner of Bankrupts, - 400 

26. Mr. J. Keller, Officer in the Court of Chancery, - - 500 

27 Mr. P. W. Fortescue, M. P. a secret pension, - 400 

28. Mr. W. Longfield, an officer in the Custom House, - 500 

29. Mr. Arthur Brown, Commission of Inspector, - 800 

30. Mr. Edmund Stanley, Commission of Inspector, - 800 

31. Mr. Charles Ormsby, Council to Commissioners Value, - 5000 

32. Mr. William Knott, M. P. Commission of Appeals, - 800 

33. Mr. Henry Deane Grady, Council to Commissioners Value, 5000 

34. Mr. John Beresford, his father a title. 


Soon after this decision, Sir Jonah Barrington resigned 
his commission as an officer of the Barrister’s Cavalry, 
and the corps shortly after ceased to act. 

11 Letter from Sir Jonah Barrington to Captain Sanrin 
Barristers ’ Cavalry .” 

“Merrion Square, January 20th, 1799. 

u Perrr*'. me to resign, through you, the commission 
which ? hold in the Lawyers’Cavalry; I resign it with 
the regret of a soldier, who knows his duty to his King, 
yet feels his duty to his country, and will depart from 
neither but with his life. 

“ That blind and fatal measure proposed by the Irish 
Government, to extinguish the political existence of Ire¬ 
land to surrender its legislature, its trade, its dearest 
rights, and proudest prerogatives, into the hands of a 
British minister, and a British council, savours too much 
of that foreign principle, against the prevailing influence 
of which the united powers of Great Britain and Ireland 
are this moment combating, and as evidently throws open 
to the British empire the gate of that seductive political 
innovation, which has already proved the grave of ha)/ 
the governments of Europe. 

32* 



m 


RISE AND FALL 


i{ Consistent therefore, with my loyalty and my oath, I 
can no longer continue subject to the indefinite and un¬ 
foreseen commands of a military government, which so 
madly hazards the integrity of the British empire, and 
existence of the British constitution, to crush a rising 
nation, and aggrandize a despotic minister. 

“ Blinded by my zealous and hereditary attachment to 
the established government and British connection, I saw 
not the absolute necessity of national unanimity, to secure 
constitutional freedom, I see it now, and trust it is not 
yet too late to establish both. 

“ I never will abet a now developed system, treacherous 
and ungrateful, stimulating two sects against each other, 
to enfeeble both, and then making religious feuds a pre¬ 
text for political slavery. 

“ Rejecting the experiment of a reform, and recom¬ 
mending the experiment of a revolution. 

“ Kindling catholic expectation to a blaze, and then 
extinguishing it for ever. 

“ Alternately disgusting the rebel and the royalist, by 
indiscriminate pardon, and indiscriminate punishment. 

“ Suspending one code of laws, and adjudging by 
another without authority to do either ; and when the 
country, wearied by her struggles for her King, slumbers 
to refresh and to regain her vigour, her liberty is treach 
erously attempted to be bound, and her pride, her security, 
and her independence, are to be buried alive in the tomb 
of national annihilation. 

“ Mechanical obedience is the duty of a soldier, but 
active uninfluenced integrity the indispensable attribute 
of a legislator, when the preservation of his country is in 
question, and as the same frantic authority, which me- 
iitates our civil annihilation, might in the same frenzy 
meditate military projects from which my feelings, my 
principles, and my honour might revolt, I feel it right to 
separate my civil and military functions ; and, to secure 
the honest uninterrupted exercise of the one, I relinquish 
the indefinite subjection of the other. 

“ I return the arms I received from government—I re¬ 
ceived them pure, and restore them not dishonoured. 

11 1 shall now resume my civil duties with zeal and 
with energy, elevated by the hope, that the Irish Parlia• 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


379 


Cjent, true to itself, and honest to its country, will never 
assume a power extrinsic of its delegation, and will con¬ 
vince the British nation that we are a people equally im- 
oregnable to the attacks of intimidation, or the shameless 
Practice of corruption. 

a "VniTr^j Arp 

“ JONAH BARRINGTON, 
“ Lieut. L. Cavalry. 

“To William Saurin, Esq. 

Commandant Lawyers' Corps.” 

The Right Honourable James Fitzgerald, then prime- 
in rjeant, was dissmissed from office, having peremptorily 
refused to vote for the Union. The office of prime-ser- 
jeant, unknown in England, in Ireland took precedence 
ol the Attorney and Solicitor General. The emoluments 
were very great; Mr. Saint George Daly was immedi¬ 
ately rewarded by that office, to the duties of which he 
was totally incompetent, never having been in any con¬ 
siderable practice at the bar. 

A meeting was then called to express to Mr. Fitzgerald 
the thanks of his profession for his disinterested patriot¬ 
ism, never was ihere a more just and honourable tribute 
paid to an honest public character. 

The bat had also determined, that the precedence in 
ihe courts euiould bo continued to Mr. Fitzgerald; to this 
Lord Claie would not accede, and he treated the subject 
with great ariogance in his court. That session con¬ 
cluded without any other meeting of the profession. 

The day after that debate, Mr. Saint George Daly drew 
up a protest of the minority, some of whom refused to 
sign it; he got some substitutes, so as to keep up his 
number of thirty-two, but not one person of professional 
eminence, of public character, or independence, appeared 
in the whole number; it was universally ridiculed, but 
Mr. Daly carried his object—his own promotion. 

Five of the debates on the Union in the Irish Com¬ 
mons comprised every thing of the first importance upon 
the subject; of these, three took place in January, 1799, 
whilst men were impressed with the horrors of the rebel¬ 
lion and the fears of a French invasion. The debates of 
1800 were after the Parliament had been packed through 


580 


RISE AND FALL 


the Place Bill. The competence of Parliament to relii> 
quish the Constitution, and their own existence, was dis¬ 
cussed with extraordinary ability. 

IX. The first debate took place on the 22nd Ji nuary, 
1799, and lasted till eleven o’clock in the morning of the 
23rd, or twenty-two hours. The Government obtained 
a majority of only one and that by the palpable seduction 
of Mr. Fox. The second debate commenced at five 
o’clock on the same day, and continued till late in the 
morning of the 24th, when, the country being roused, the 
Treasury Bench was unexpectedly defeated. 

The speech from the Viceroy, delivered on the open¬ 
ing of the session, which gave rise to the debate of 22nd 
January, recommended—“ the unremitting industry with 
which our enemies persevere in their avowed design of 
endeavouring to effect a separation of this kingdom from 
Great Britain, must have engaged your particular atten¬ 
tion, and His Majesty commands me to express his anx¬ 
ious hope that this consideration, joined to the sentiment 
of mutual affection and common interest, may dispose 
the Parliaments in both kingdoms to provide the most 
effectual means of maintaining and improving a con¬ 
nection essential to their common security, and of consoli¬ 
dating as far as possible into one firm and lasting fabric, 
the strength, the power and the resources of the British 
empire.” The address to that speech, almost an echo, 
was moved by Lord Tyrone, who thus stamped for him¬ 
self an eternal impression on the annals of Ireland. He 
was the eldest son of the Marquis of Waterford, a keen 
and haughty nobleman, possessed of that local influence 
which rank, extensive connections, unlimited patronage, 
and ostentatious establishments are almost certain to ac¬ 
quire: inflated with aristocratic pride and blinded by 
egotism, he became a powerful instrument of Lord Clare’s 
ambition, whilst he conceived that he was only gratifying 
his own. Lord Clare, at that period, had covered the 
surface of the nation with the partisans of the Beresfords 
and himself, and no family ever possessed so many high 
and lucrative employments; they had no talent, no public 
services, no political honesty, which should have entitled 
them to the authority they exercised over their sovereign 
%nd. country. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


381 


Lord Tyrone, an automaton of Lord Clare, possessed 
plain manners, an open countenance, a slothful unculti¬ 
vated mind, unsusceptible of any refined impressions, or 
patriotic feelings; the example of his relatives gave him 
no stimulus beyond that of lucrative patronage. What¬ 
ever were his individual opinions upon the Union, his 
vapid, disingenuous, and arrogant speech evinced that 
he was not calculated to give weight to his family: his 
speech had been written by his friends, and, concealing 
it in the crown of his hat, he took a glance at it when at 
a loss: the exhibition, on such a subject, was too dis¬ 
gusting to be ridiculous: Lord Clare, on this occasion, 
exhibited the voracity of his ambition. The ancient and 
proud house of Beresford were, on that night, cringing 
as the vassals of an arrogant and splendid upstart. 

The address was seconded by Mr. Robert Fitzgerald, 
of Corkbeg, an elderly country gentleman; he had an 
honest character, blunt, candid manners; and though he 
had not talent, he could deliver himself with some strength 
and with the appearance of sincerity. His speech on 
this occasion was short and feeble. He had been art¬ 
fully seduced as a lure to the country gentlemen, by 
Lord Cornwallis’s assuring him that, in the event of the 
Union, a royal dock-yard would be built near Cork, 
which would double the value of his estates. 

In every debate upon that measure, it was insisted 
upon that the Parliament was incompetent, even to en¬ 
tertain the question of the Union ; such was the opinion 
of Mr. Saurin, since Attorney General; Mr. Plunket, 
since Lord Chancellor; Serjeant Ball, the ablest lawyer 
of Ireland; Mr. Fitzgerald, Prime Sergeant of Ireland; 
Mr. Moore, since a Judge; Sir John Parnell, then Chan¬ 
cellor of the Exchequer; Mr. Bushe, since Chief Justice; 
and Lord Oriel, the then Speaker of the House of Com¬ 
mons. Nearly every unbribed or uninfiuenced member 
of the learned profession adopted the doctrine of which 
these learned and able men were the unqualified organs. 
Lord Glenbervie, in his famous speech in favour of the 
Union, in the English House of Commons, in 1800, ex¬ 
pressed his surprise that Messrs. Saurin, Plunket, and 
Barrington, could reason upon so untenable a position. 
He admitted their sincerity, but considered them not 



RISE AND FALL 


clear in their intellects. His own speech was splen 
y printed, but was miserably heavy. The Irish Union 
materially changed the representation of England, and 
altered the letter and spirit of the Scotch treaty; Ireland, 
however, was alone disfranchised. 

Mr. John Ball, Member for Drogheda, who gave his 
unqualified opinion as to the legal and constitutional in¬ 
capacity of the Commons to enact an Union, was the 
ablest lawyer of his day, and one of the purest characters, 
public and private, that had ever flourished in Ireland; 
amiable and consistent in every station and in every ca¬ 
pacity, combining spirit and mildness, fortitude and mo¬ 
deration; he was cast in one of the finest moulds of 
firmness and patriotism. During his progress from com¬ 
parative obscurity to the attachment and highest esteem 
of his profession, and of the public, he evinced an inde¬ 
pendence above all temptation. Though the ablest 
lawyer of his day, he was passed over in all Lord Clare’s 
promotions. 


O* THE IRISH NATION. 


im 


CHAPTER XXV. 

The three leading arguments used in Parliament m favour of a Union— 
Arguments of the Anti-Unionists—Not England which quelled the 
insurrection—English militia never acted in Ireland—Mr. William 
Smith supports the Union—Corrupt conduct of Mr. Trench and Mr 
Fox—Mr. Trench palpably gained over—Mr. Trench recanted what 
he had a few moments before declared—The Place Bill and its unfor¬ 
tunate effects —Mr. Fox created a Judge of the Common Pleas for his 
tergiversation—Originally a Whig— Made a false declaration to avoid 
being counted—Effect of the Place Bill—His second deception—Con¬ 
duct of Mr. Cooke and Admiral Pakenham—Mi. Marshall’s disgrace¬ 
ful conduct—Debate commenced—Great popularity of the Speaker- 
Lord Castlereagh’s policy—Sir John Parnell denied the competence of 
both the King and the Parliament to enact a Union—Mr. Tighe the 
same—Great effect of Mr. Ponsonby’s speech—Remarkable agitation— 
Description of the scene—Lord Castlereagh’s violent speech—Attack 
~>n Mr. Ponsonby—Mr. Ponsonby’s sarcastic reply—Lord Castle- 
•eagh’s desperation—Mr. John Egan attacks Mr. William Smith—Sir 
Laurence Parsons made a most able and eloquent speech—Mr. Fred¬ 
erick Falkiner nothing could corrupt—Prime Sergeant Fitzgerald dis¬ 
missed—Mr. Plunket’s speech—Spirited speech of Col. O’Donnell— 
Second shameful tergiversation of Mr. Trench, created Lord Ash town 
—Most important incident in the annals of Ireland—State of the 
House of Commons—Mr. Fortescue's fatal speech—Mr. French and 
Lord Cole seceded—John Claudius Beresford—Extraordinary change 
in the feelings of the House—Sarcastic remark of Sir Henry Caven 
dish—Great popularity of the Speaker—Joy and exultation of the 
people—Singular anecdote of Mr. Martin—Meeting of the Lords— 
Their infatuation—Conduct of Lord Clare—Unpopularity of the Irish 
Peers—Two Bishops, Down and Limerick, opposed him—Character 
of the Bishop of Down—Commission of Compensation—Subsequent 
proceedings of the Viceroy and Lord Castlereagh—Ruinous conse¬ 
quence of Mr. Fortescue’s conduct—Mistaken conduct of the Anti 
Unionists—-Their embarrassment—Bad effects of Mr. Fortescue’s con¬ 
duct—The Catholics—State of parties. 

[. It would be impossible to do justice to the brilliant 
eloquence, and unanswerable reasoning, by which this 
measure was combated. Even a short abstract of the 
speeches delivered on that momentous question would 
swell this volume beyond its intended limits: those 
speeches will be the subject of a future publication. 


584 


RISE AND FAt 


At present, it must suffice to state the abstract points o 
which the arguments of Government for annexation wu 
founded, and those by which they were so ably, and un 
answerably refuted. First, the distracted state of th* 
Irish Nation, its religious dissensions, and the conseque.. 
danger of a separation, unless protected from so imminen 
a peril, by the incorporation with Great Britain, and th» 
incapacity of the Irish legislature alone to avert the dan 
gers of the country, and preserve the constitutio: 
Secondly, the great commercial advantages of a Union 
which must eventually enrich Ireland, by an extensioi 
of its commerce, the influx of British capital, and th« 
confidence of England in the stability of its institutiom 
when guaranteed by the Union. Thirdly, the Govern 
ment pressed with great zeal the example of Scotlanc 
which had so improved, and become so rich and pros 
perous, after its annexation ; a precedent which mus 
convince the Irish of the incalculable advantages, whicl 
must ensue from a similar incorporation. 

Many other arguments, but of a minor descriptioi. 
were urged by the purchased partisans of Governmen* 
But the leading points which elicited the splendid elc 
quence, the reasoning and the high spirit of its oppo 
nents, were exemplified by the argument of Mr. Georg* 
Ponsonby. 

II. Sir Lawrence Parsons, and many others in reply 
not only animated, but convinced the assembly; the facts 
were too strong to be refuted, that the country had beer, 
worked up by the English minister to terrify the Irish 
gentry into a resubmission to whose shackles from whicl 
the spirit of the Volunteers, and of the nation, had but a 
few years before released them. They asked what could 
the Union do, which could not be done without it? 

That there was no species of aid, no auxiliary powei 
which England could afford to Ireland, either to restore 
or secure her tranquillity, that Ireland had not fully within 
her own reach and power. She had men—she had means 
—she had arms—she had spirit—she had loyalty—all in 
her domestic circle sufficient to restore her to peace, 
which had, for a moment, been interrupted by the machi¬ 
nations of those who would now take advantage of tlieii 
own treachery. The Irish Parliament had within hej 


UP THE IRISH NATION. 


385 


own walls the power of reconciling religious differences, 
restoring peace or put ling down insurrection, far more 
effectually than the English Government could pretend 
to possess. 

It was argued that the insurrection, first organized and 
fostered by Mr. Pitt, and protracted by Lord Cornwallis, 
had been suppressed by the active zeal and measures of 
the Irish Parliament; and that the introduction of foreign 
and mercenary Germans, to immolate the Irish, instead 
of tending to extinguish, added fuel to the conflagration, 
and excited the strongest feelings of retaliation ; nor 
could the people of independent Ireland brook the iff a 
of being cut down by Welshmen. 

III. It was not to the arms of England, but. to the dis¬ 
tinguished loyalty of the Irish Commons, and the prompt 
and vigorous measures of the Irish Parliament, that the 
speedy termination of that insurrection was to be attri¬ 
buted. The English Militia were brought over, after 
the contest had nearly ended, and never fired a shot in 
Ireland. They conducted themselves with decorum and 
due discipline, and returned to England with at least as 
good a character as they left it. The German mercena¬ 
ries who were wantonly imported, as if to teach barbarity 
Jo the Irish insurgents, amply experienced by their own 
blood the expertness of their pupils, and only aggravated 
that people whom they had been brought to conquer. 

The argument therefore, that the Irish legislature had 
not sufficient power to protect itself, was unfounded and 
fallacious, and only invented to keep up and augment the 
terrors of the Irish gentry. 

The second ground of argument used by the supporters 
of the Union, great commercial advantages, appeared 
still more fallacious; its deception was too palpable to 
deceive the most ignorant of the people. 

IV. The proposers of the Union were asked, what were 
the commercial advantages which Ireland could possibly 
gain by a Union, that she might not equally attain through 
her own Parliament without one ? She was an indepen¬ 
dent nation, she had an independent legislature, she might 
regulate her own tariffs and conduct her commerce by hei 
ewn statutes ; the reciprocal connection of the two coun* 


S3 


386 


RISE AWD FALL 


tries was an equal object to the commercial interests oi 
both. 

The non-importation and non-consumption resolutions 
of Ireland had once brought back the English monopolists 
to their reason; the same power remained with the Irish 
people. If she could resist commercial restraints in 1782, 
with tenfold more facility she could resist them in 1800; 
she could trade with more success, because she had since 
learned the rudiments of commerce, from a participation 
in which the avarice of monopolists and the unjust jea¬ 
lousies of Great Britain had theret-ofore excluded her. 

The crafty prediction that English capital would flow 
into Ireland, when a Union was effected, was a visionary 
deception. For more capital would be annually with¬ 
drawn from Ireland by the emigration of the landed pro¬ 
prietors in consequence of Union, than could be gained by 
any accession of British capital. Ireland was an agricul¬ 
tural country ; her natural fertility pointed out to her the 
true source of her internal employment and the proper 
subjects of her external commerce; and when the famine 
which the slightest stagnation of trade causes amongst 
the manufacturers of the first towns of England, the de¬ 
crepitude of their meagre operatives, the wretched enerva¬ 
ting slavery to which the necessity of the parents and the 
brutality of the manufacturer condemn the infants of that 
nation, are considered, it would make a sufficient reply to 
either the certainty or the consequence of British capital. 

V. The third and most deceptions argument of the 
Union supporters, because the most plausible, was the 
precedent of Scotland, and the great advantages derived 
by her in consequence of her Union. 

Of all the false reasoning, mis-stated facts, fallacious 
premises, and unfounded conclusions, that any position 
ever was attempted to be supported on, the arguments 
founded on the Scottish precedent were the most errone¬ 
ous, and no deception ever was more completely and 
fully detected than by the speeches made in the Irish 
Parliament in 1799 and 1800, and by several able pam¬ 
phlets, which, at that period, flowed in full tide upon the 
public.* 

* Two pamphlets, and a speech of Mr. Goold at the Bar meeting 
published in 1799, go very ably into all those subjects 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


387 


These replies, being founded on matters of fact and at¬ 
tested by incontrovertible records, put at once a decisive 
conclusion to every argument deduced by the advocates 
of Union, from that subject. 

First, as to matter of fact, Scotland and Ireland in theii 
relation with England, stood on grounds diametrically 
opposite to each other on every point that could warrant 
a Union on the one side, or reject it on the other. 

Scotland and England forming only one Island, divided 
by a frontier, many parts of which a man could step over, 
had ever been in a state of sanguinary warfare. The 
facility of invasion on both sides, left no moment-of a 
certain undisturbed tranquillity to either. Their inroads 
were incessant, their reconciliations, only the forerunner 
of new contests, interrupted by short intervals of peace, 
until the accession of Mary. She had been Queen of 
France, and on her return to her native country, intro¬ 
duced a French connection with Scotland, which added to 
the excitement of both nations, and naturally increased 
the apprehensions of England from the power of a neigh¬ 
bour, so supported as Scotland then must have been. 

The two crowns were united in the person of James 
the First; and in the reign of Charles, the Scottish army 
renounced their allegiance and sold their King, and sur¬ 
rendered him to his enemies, and eventually to the exe¬ 
cutioner. It was considered by King William III., when 
he usurped the British throne, that if they so acted 
by one King, they might do so by another, and his san¬ 
guinary conduct towards that country, still widened the 
breach between the two nations. At length the reign of 
Anne brought the question of Union forward, not as in 
Ireland, a mere voluntary discussion, but one of absolute 
necessity. 

VI. Had Anne died childless, the crowns must have 
been severed, and that of Scotland, by descent, would 
have gone to the Scottish Duke of Hamilton, as Han 
over was, on the demise of his late Majesty, separatee' 
from England. This important fact puts an end to aU 
comparisons between the relative state of the two coun¬ 
tries. 

The Scottish Parliament, to put an end to all doubts 
on the subject of separation, passed an Act entitled the 


388 


RISE AND FALL 


Act of security. By that statute, the Scottish Parliament 
enacted that the crown of Scotland should never be worn 
by the same Monarch as that of England. By the Irish 
Parliament it was enacted that the two crowns should 
u ever » be worn by the same Monarch and never dis¬ 
united. 

VII. Thus it incontestibly appears by an Act of Scot¬ 
land herself, that without a Scottish Union England and 
Scotland though the same island, must in a short space 
of time have been constitutionally severed, and governed 
by different and distinct monarchs for ever, whereas Ire¬ 
land,- though a different and distinct island, with a great 
intervening sea, had decided the very reverse of Scotla nd, 
and had united herself indissolubly and voluntarily to 
England, by a mutual federative compact, both crowns 
to be for ever worn by the same Monarch. 

How the supporters of the Irish Union, therefore, could 
have the face to call in the Scottish Union as a prece¬ 
dent, to show the necessity of an Irish Union, can only 
be accounted for by that voluntary blindness, and pre¬ 
meditated absence of all candour and liberality, which 
are the inseparable companions of political delinquency. 

But, in fact, the supporters of an Irish Union were 
themselves the greatest enemies to British connection, for 
this clear and obvious reason ; the Scottish Union was a 
(matter of state necessity ; the connection of England and 
Ireland a mutual international compact , and as such 
equally binding, sacred, and inviolable, on both sides ; 
and as the principle of all international as well as indi¬ 
vidual contracts, is binding just so long as the mutual 
compacts are adhered to. Such a mutual, sacred, and 
international compact, voluntarily, constitutionally, and 
legally guaranteed by both legislatures, confirmed by the 
King of both countries in his double capacity, and touch¬ 
ed by his sceptre, had been enacted and did exist between 
England and Ireland long previous to the measure of a 
Union, so pressed on Ireland by England; such a Union 
was therefore a direct unequivocal infraction, of that in¬ 
ternational treaty, and federative compact, the mutual 
and inviolable adherence to which, in all its provisions, 
was the only valuable consideration to Ireland. 

It was truly argued, that in this point of view, there. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


389 


fore no simil irity existed between the position of Scotland 
and of Ireland, when the Irish nobles were cashiered of 
their hereditary honour, and the Irish people plundered 
of two thirds of their constitutional representation. 

YIII. Another fact stated, and most ably reasoned on, 
during the debates on the Irish Union to prove the absur¬ 
dity of the attempted comparison, was that the Scottish 
and Irish Parliaments, at that period, had in their organi¬ 
zation and proceedings no similitude whatsoever; the 
Lords and Commons of Scotland formed but one chamber, 
the representatives of the people (such as they were) and 
the Peers called the hereditary counsellors of the crown 
sat mingled and voted together promiscuously ; nothing 
like the British constitution even in theory existed in 
Scotland : church, state, and legislation had no analogy; 
two countries, therefore, possessing such incongruous 
materials of legislation, and a species of imperium in 
imperio , entirely inconsistent with the constitution of the 
superior nation, could not continue to exist in the same 
island, without the daily probability of collision, and the 
danger of hostilities, aided by the facility of invasion by 
either country ; this condition imperatively required some 
means to avert so probable and imminent a danger to both 
countries. 

No such dangers, however, existed as to Ireland; and 
if she had not been politically excited by the British 
minister, and by the example of England and Scotland, 
or even after that excitement had subsided, and put an end 
to, had she been permitted to rest, and regain her tran¬ 
quillity and vigour, and proper measures had been then 
adopted to continue that tranquillity, no country on earth 
had more capabilities, and no country in Europe would 
have been more prosperous, tranquil, and happy, than 
misgoverned Ireland. 

The grand and fundamental point, which was then 
urged, reasoned upon, and which never has, and never 
can be refuted, was the incompetence i f Parliament to 
betray its trust. Whilst the first elements of the British 
constitution exist, that principle is its surest protection; 
the entire incompetence of representatives elected by the 
people, as their delegated trustees, tc represent them in 
the great national inquest, and as such trustees, and 

33 * 


390 


RISE AND FALL 


guardians, to preserve the rights and constitution so 
entrusted to them, inviolate ; and at the expiration of the 
term of that trust, deliver hack their trust to their con¬ 
stituents, as they received it, to be replaced in theii own 
hands, or of other trustees for another term. But they 
had, and could have no power to betray their trust, 
convert it to their own corrupt purposes, or transfer the 
most valuable of all funds, an independent constitution, 
the integrity of which they became trustees solely for the 
purpose of protecting. 

This being a fundamental principle of British law, is 
placed under the protection of the Judges; and the very 
essence, first principle and element of British equity, is 
placed under the protection of the Chancellor. That high 
functionary, in his double capacity, of the first judge of 
the country, and also the adviser of the King in all cases 
within his jurisdiction, is bound to support by authorities, 
that principle which forms the only safeguard to the 
British Constitution. 

IX. Many of the ablest lawyers of 1799 and 1800 
justly estimated for their deep knowledge, great talents, 
and incorruptible integrity, gave both in and out of Par¬ 
liament unqualified and decided opinions, which are too 
important not to be recorded; they entirely denied the 
competence of the Irish Commons, to pass or even to 
receive any act of Union extinguishing their own existence 
and betraying the trusts they were delegated to protect. 
When the names of Saurin, Ponsonby, Plunket, Ball, 
Bushe, Curran, Burrowes, Fitzgerald, A. Moore, &c. are 
found supporting that doctrine by their learning, their 
public character, and their legal reputation; and such 
men as Grattan, Parsons, Forbes, Parnel, O’Hara, &c. &c. 
united with Corry, Clements, Caulfield, Cole, Kings- 
iorough, &c., and the flower of the young Irish nobles, in 
/he Commons House of Parliament; it is impossible not 
to accede to a doctrine, supported by every principle of 
(aw. equity, and constitution. 

This great fact, therefore (and the irrefragable autho¬ 
rities on which it rests are repeated, and spread over many 
parts of this short history), necessarily produces a deduc¬ 
tion. more intrinsically important, and involving more 
grave considerations, than any other that can arise upo-> 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


391 


this subject. From these principles, it follows as a 
corollary, that the Act of Union carried by such means, 
was in itself a nullity ab initio , and a fraud upon the then 
existing constitution ; and if a nullity in 1800, it is incon¬ 
trovertible that nothing afterwards did, or possibly could 
validate it in 1833. 

No temporary assent, or in this case submission, could 
be deduced as an argument, no lapse of time, unless by 
proscription (beyond which the memory of man runneth 
not), can ever establish any Act originally illegal; no 
limitation through lapse of time, can bar the rights and 
claims ot the crown, there is no limitation, through lapse 
of time, to the church, no limitation through lapse of time, 
can bar the chartered right of even a petty corporation ; 
and a fortiori, no lapse of time can legalize any act hostile 
to the rights of a free people, or extinguish the legislature 
of an independent nation. In that point of view, there¬ 
fore, no legislative union ever was constitutionally enacted 
between the two countries. 

But considering that question in another point of view, 
it is the invariable principle of all international law, that 
the infraction of a solemn treaty, on the one side, dis¬ 
penses with any adherence to the same treaty by the other, 
of course, annuls both, and leaves the contracting parties 
in statu quo , as they respectively stood before the treaty, 
and it was therefore argued by those able men, that the 
renunciation act of the 23d George III., “recognizing 
the unqualified independence of Ireland, and expressly 
stipulating and contracting that it should endure for ever,” 
was the very essence, and consideration, of the inter¬ 
national and federative treaty ; and through its infraction 
by England, both countries stood in the very same state 
p« at the period when England repealed her own statute 
of George I., and admitted its unconstitutionality, and her 
own usurpation, Ireland, of course, remained in the same 
position as she stood at that period. 

X. From all these considerations it inevitably follows 
that if through force, or fraud, or fear, or corruption, ii 
enacting it, the Union was null, then any act of the In? 
pedal Parliament, repealing the Act of Union, would be 
in fact only repealing a nullity, and restoring to Ireland a 
legislature she never had been constitutionally deprived 


RISE AND PALL 


<*92 


of. It was admitted that, had the infraction of the fede¬ 
rative treaty been the act of Ireland, then this reasoning 
would have lost its validity; but the contrary is direc* 
and indisputable 

The Union propositions came from England herself, 
they were rejected ; she returned to the charge, and forced 
them upon Ireland, though at the same time the English 
Parliament had solemnly pledged the honour, both of 
themselves, and their sovereign, for the eternal support of 
its independence, and the federative treaty. 

These arguments, and many more, were used both in 
and out of Parliament, to arrest the progress of that des¬ 
tructive and faithless measure, but in vain; however, two 
great events, so long and so violently resisted for more 
than a century, have lately been accomplished; which 
give rise to constitutional questions, and have materially 
changed the state both of the people and the legislature, 
roused Ireland from her torpor, and brought forward 
claims which had so long lain dormant. And it is by the 
late measures of England herself, that the Irish people 
have been led to consider that the nation was only in a 
slumber, and her legislature only in abeyance. 

XI. These grave and embarrassing points of constitu¬ 
tional law, were by various speeches and pamphlets com¬ 
bated by Mr. William Smith (the present Baron,) who 
lent the whole power of his able, and indefatigable genius, 
to prove the omnipotence of Parliament, and combat all 
the reasoning of those distinguished men, who have been 
heretofore alluded to: particularly Mr. Foster, against 
whose doctrine he wrote a long and laboured pamphlet. 

Baron Smith’s ideas and reasoning are so metaphysi¬ 
cally plaited and interwoven, that facts are lost sight of 
in the multiplicity and minuteness of theories and dis¬ 
tinctions, and ordinary auditors, after a most learned, 
eloquent, and argumentative charge, or argument, are 
seldom able to recollect a single sentence of either, (the 
dogmas excepted,) after they are out of the Court House. 
In all his arguments, as to the omnipotence of the Irish 
Parliament to surrender its legislature, he manufactures 
his theories, as if the Irish Commons submitted willingly 
to prostitution, and argued in principle, that if members 
were purchased, it was in a market overt , and that tb* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


unconstitutionality of the sale merged in the omnipotent 
majority of the purchaser. 

It is to be regretted that the learned Baron, wfo is 
always able, and frequently four days in the week patri¬ 
otic, should in 1800 have accepted a seat on the Bench, 
as a premium for his share of the omnipotency. The 
English people would have considered the Baron’s rea¬ 
soning, for the extinction of the Irish Parliament, in a 
very different point of view, if it had been used by him 
to prove the expediency of removing the British Parlia¬ 
ment, to legislate in Dublin. 

XII. A very remarkable incident during the first night’s 
debate occurred in the conduct of Mr. Luke Fox and Mr. 
Trench, of Woodlawn, afterwards created Lord Ashtown. 
Th^se were the most palpable, undisguised acts of public 
tergiversation and seduction ever exhibited in a popular 
assembly. They afterwards became the subject of many 
speeches and of many publications; and their consequences 
turned the majority of one in favour of the Minister. 

It was suspected that Mr. Trench had been long in 
negociation with Lord Castlereagh, but it did not in the 
earlv part of that night appear to have been brought to 
any conclusion, his conditions were supposed to be too 
extravagant. Mr. Trench, after some preliminary obser¬ 
vations, declared, in a speech, that he would vote against 
♦he Minister, and support Mr. Ponsonby’s amendment. 
This appeared a stunning blow to Mr. Cooke, who had. 
been previously in conversation with Mr. Trench. He 
was immediately observed sideling from his seat nearer to 
Lord Castlereagh. They whispered earnestly, and, as if 
restless and undecided, both looked wistfully towards Mr. 
Trench. At length the matter seemed to be determined 
on. Mr. Cooke retired to a back seat, and was obviously 
endeavouring to count the house, probably to guess if 
they could that night dispense with Mr. Trench’s services. 
He returned to Lord Castlereagh, they whispered, again 
looked most affectionately at Mr. Trench, who seemed 
unconscious that he was the subject of their consideration. 
But there was no time to lose, the question was approach¬ 
ing, all shame was banished, they decided on the terms, 
and a significant and certain glance, obvious to every 
body, convinced Mr. Trench that his conditions wen 


RISE AND FALL 


.391 


agreed to. Mr. Cooke then went and sat down by his 
side ; an earnest but very short conversation took place; 
a parting smile completely told the house that Mr. Trench 
was that moment satisfied. These surmises were soon 
verified. Mr. Cooke went back to Lord Castlereagh, a 
congratulatory nod announced his satisfaction. But could 
any man for one moment suppose that a Member of Par 
liament, a man of very large fortune, of respectable 
family, and good character, could be publicly, and with¬ 
out shame or compunction, actually seduced by Lord 
Castlereagh, in the very body of the house, and under 
the eye of two hundred and twenty gentlemen ? Yet 
this was the fact. In a few minutes Mr. Trench rose, to 
apologize for having indiscreetly declared he would sup¬ 
port the amendment. He added, that he had thought 
better of the subject since he had unguardedly expressed 
himself; that he had been convinced he was wrong, and 
would support the Minister. 

Scarcely was there a member of any party who was 
not disgusted; it had, however, the effect intended by the 
desperate purchaser, of proving that Ministers would stop 
at nothing to effect their objects, however shameless or 
corrupt. This purchase of Mr. Trench, had a much more 
fatal effect upon the destinies of Ireland. His change of 
sides, and the majority of one to which it contributed, 
were probably the remote causes of persevering in a 
Union. Mr. Trench’s venality excited indignation in 
every friend of Ireland.* 

Another circumstance that night proved by what means 
Lord Castlereagh’s majority of even one was acquired. 

The Place Bill, so long and so pertinaciously sought 
for, and so indiscreetly framed hy Mr. Grattan and the 
Whigs of Ireland, now, for the first time, proved the very 
engine by which the Minister upset, the opposition, and 
annihilated the Constitution. 

That bill enacted, that members accepting offices, 
places, or pensions, during the pleasure of the Crown, 

* Had Mr. Fox and Mr. Trench voted as they professed, a majority 
ot three would have appeared in favour oi Mr. Ponsonby’s amendment; 
and Englishmen will scarcely credit that any Government could, with a 
majority against them, have presumed to persevere in their subveision of 
the Constitution. 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


39b 


should not sit in Parliament unless re-elected; but, un¬ 
fortunately, the Bill made no distinction between valuable 
offices which might influence, and nominal offices, which 
might job, and the Chiltern Hundreds of England were, 
under the title of the Escheatorships of Munster, Lein¬ 
ster, Connaught, &c., transferred to Ireland, with salaries 
of forty shillings, to be used at pleasure by the Secretary. 
Occasional and temporary seats were thus bartered for 
by Government, and by the ensuing session, made the 
complete and fatal instrument of packing the Parliament 
and effecting a Union. 

Mr. Luke Fox, a barrister of very humble origin, of 
vulgar manners, and of a coarse, harsh appearance, was 
endued with a clear, strong, and acute mind, and was 
possessed of much cunning. He had acquired very con¬ 
siderable legal information, and was an obstinate and per¬ 
severing advocate; he had been the usher of a school, and 
a sizer in Dublin University; but neither politics nor the 
belles-lettres were his pursuit. On acquiring eminence at 
the bar, he married an obscure niece of the Earl of Ely’s; 
he had originally professed what was called whiggism, 
merely, as people supposed, because his name was Fox. 
His progress was impeded by no political principles, but 
he kept his own secrets well, and being a man of no im¬ 
portance, it was perfectly indifferent to every body what 
side he took. Lord Ely, perceiving he was manageable, 
returned him to Parliament as one of his automata; and 
Mr. Fox played his part very much to the satisfaction of 
his manager. 

When the Union was announced, Lord Ely had not 
made his terms, and remained long in abeyance; and as 
his Lordship had not issued his orders to Mr. Fox, he was 
very unwilling to commit himself until he could dive 
deeper into probabilities ; but rather believing the oppo¬ 
sition would have the majority, he remained in the body 
of the House with the Anti-Unionists, when the division 
look place. The doors were scarcely locked, when he 
became alarmed, and slunk, unperceived, into one of the 
dark corridors, where he concealed himself: he was, how¬ 
ever, discovered, and the serjeant-at-arms was ordered to 
bring him forth, to be counted amongst the Anti-Umon- 
•sts, his confusion was very great, and he seemed at his 


396 


RISE AND FALIi 


wit’s end, at length he declared he had taken advantage 
of the Place Bill; had actually accepted the Escheator - 
ship of Munster , and had thereby vacated his seat, and 
could not vote. 

The fact was doubted, but, after much discussion, his 
excuse, upon his honour , was admitted, and he was al¬ 
lowed to return into the corridor. On the numbers being 
counted, there was a majority of one for Lord Castlereagh, 
and, exclusive of Mr. Trench’s conduct; but for that of 
Mr. Fox the numbers would have been equal; the mea¬ 
sure would have been negatived by the Speaker’s vote, 
and the renewal of it, the next day, have been prevented: 
this would have been a most important victory. 

XIII. The mischief of the Place Bill now stared its 
framers in the face, and gave the Secretary a code of in¬ 
struction how to arrange a Parliament against the ensu¬ 
ing session. 

To render the circumstance still more extraordinary 
and unfortunate for Mr. Fox’s reputation, it was subse¬ 
quently discovered, by the public records, that Mr. Fox’s 
assertion was false ; but the following day Lord Castle 
reagh purchased him outright; and then, and not before , 
appointed him to the nominal office of Escheator of Mun 
ster, and left the seat of Lord Ely for another of his crea¬ 
tures.* This is mentioned, not only as one of the most 
reprehensible public acts committed during the discussion, 
but because it was the primary cause of the measure 
being persisted in. 

The exultations of the public on this disappointment of 
/he Minister knew no bounds ; they reflected not, that, 
/text day, a new debate must endanger their ambiguous 
triumph. The national character of the Irish, during 
both the 23rd and 24th, displayed itself in full vigour. 

The debate upon the report of the address, and the 
pertinacity which urged the Government to a second 
combat, soon roused them from their dream of security. 

Both parties now stood in a difficult and precarious 

* This did not conclude the remarkable acts of Mr. Fox: after his 
seat had been so vacated, he got himself re-elected for a Borough under 
the influence of the Earl of Granard, a zealous Anti-Unionist; here he 
once more betrayed the country, and was appointed a Judge when the 
subject was decided. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


397 


predicament: the Minister had not time to gam ground 
by the usual practices of the Secretary; and the question 
must have been either totally relinquished or again dis¬ 
cussed. The Opposition were, as yet, uncertain how far 
the last debate might cause any numerical alteration in 
their favour ; each party calculated on a small majority, 
and it was considered that a defeat would be equally 
ruinous to either. 

It was supposed that the Minister would, according to 
all former precedent, withdraw from his situation, if left 
in a minority, whilst an increased majority, however 
small, against the Anti-Unionists, might give plausible 
grounds for future discussions. 

The next day the people collected in vast multitudes 
around the House ; a strong sensation was every where 
perceptible ; immense numbers of ladies of distinction 
crowded at an early hour, into the galleries, and by their 
presence and their gestures animated that patriotic spirit, 
upon the prompt energy of which alone depended the 
fate of Ireland. 

Secret messengers were dispatched in every direction, 
to bring in loitering or reluctant members—every emis¬ 
sary that Government could rely upon was busily em¬ 
ployed the entire morning ; and five and thirty minutes 
after four o’clock, in the afternoon of the 24th of January, 
1799, the House met to decide, by the adoption or rejec¬ 
tion of the Address, the question of national indepen¬ 
dence or annihilation. Within the corridors of the House, 
a shameless and unprecedented alacrity appeared among 
the friends of Government. 

Mr. Cooke, the Under Secretary, who, throughoitt all 
the subsequent stages of the question, was the private 
and efficient actuary of the Parliamentary seduction, on 
this night exceeded even himself, both in his public and 
private exertions to gain over the wavering members. 
Admiral Pakenham, a naturally friendly and good-heart¬ 
ed gentleman, that night acted like the captain of a press- 
gang, and actually hauled in some members who were 
desirous of retiring. He had declared that he would act 
in any capacity, according to the exigencies of his party; 
and he did not shrink from his task. 

A Mr. Marshall, of the Secretary’s office (not a mem- 
34 


m 


RISE AND FALL 


her), forgot all decorum, and disgraced the cause by his 
exploits about the entrances of the House. Others act¬ 
ed as keepers in the coffee-room ; and no member who 
could be seduced, intimidated, or deceived, could possibly 
escape the nets that were extended to secure him. 

Nor did the leaders of Opposition remain inactive; but 
the attendance of their friends being voluntary, was, of 
course, precarious. The exertions of Mr. Bowes Daly 
and others, were, however, strenuous. 

At length a hot and open canvass, by the friends of Gov¬ 
ernment, was perceived, wherever an uncertain or reluc¬ 
tant member could be found, or his connections discovered. 

XIV. The debate commenced about seven o’clock. 
Silence prevailed in the galleries ; but an indecent con¬ 
fusion and noise ran through the corridors, and frequently 
excited surprise and alarm at its continuance : it was the 
momentous canvass—it was rude, sometimes boisterous, 
and altogether unsual. 

The Speaker at length took his chair, and his cry of 
“ Order! order !” obtained a profound silence. Dignified 
and peremptory, he was seldom disobeyed ; and a chair¬ 
man more despotic, from his wisdom and the respect and 
affection of the members of every side, never presided 
over a popular assembly. 

When prayers commenced, all was in a moment 
gloomy and decorous, and a deep solemnity corresponded 
with the vital importance of the subject they were to de 
termine. 

This debate, in point of warmth, much exceeded the 
former. Lord Castiereagh was silent; his eye ran round 
the assembly, as if to ascertain his situation, and was 
often withdrawn with a look of uncertainty and disap¬ 
pointment. The numbers had a little increased since the 
last division, principally by members who had not de¬ 
clared themselves, and of whose opinions the Secretary 
was ignorant. 

Lord Castiereagh, however, wincing under his negative 
nastigatio of the former evening, had now determined to 
act on the offensive, and give, by his example, more spirit, 
and zeal to his followers than they had hitherto exhibited 
It was his only course, and though inoperative, it wai 
ably attempted. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


399 


The debate, however, had hardly commenced, when he 
\*as assailed as if by a storm. Several members rose at 
once to tell the Secretary their opinions of his merits— 
a personal hostility appeared palpable between the 
parties; the subject and arguments were the same as 
those of the preceding night, but they were accoinpanied 
much more by individual allusions. 

Sir John Parnell, late Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
who had been dismissed for refusing to support a Union, 
opened the debate. He spoke with great ability; he 
plainly avowed his opinion that it was a revolutionary 
change of the Constitution, which the Parliament had no 
power to enact, and to which the King could not, con¬ 
sistently with his Coronation Oath, give the royal assent. 

Mr. Tighe, of Wicklow, followed and delivered his 
sentiments against the measure in the same terms, and 
with equal decision. Mr. George Ponsonby arose to 
move an amendment, negativing the address as far as 
it alluded to a Union. 

When Mr. George Ponsonby was roused, he had great 
debating powers: on minor subjects he was often vapid, 
but on this occasion he far exceeded himself in argument, 
elocution, and in fortitude. He was sincere—his blood 
warmed—he reasoned with a force, a boldness, and with 
an absence of all reserve, which he never before had so 
energetically exhibited. As a lawyer, a statesman, and a 
lo) r al Irish subject, he denied that either the Lords, or the 
Commons, or the King of Ireland, had the power of pass¬ 
ing or assenting to a Legislative Union. He avowed his 
opinion that the measure was revolutionary, and would 
run the destructive lengths of endangering the compact 
between the crown and the subjects, and the connection 
of the two nations. 

It is scarcely to be imagined what an effect such a 
speech, from a calm, discreet, and loyal man, a constitu¬ 
tional lawyer, and representative of a high aristocratic 
family, produced in that House. It was, in point of 
extent and powers, unexpected from so calm a character; 
and the impression therefore was proportionably greater. 

The words, as he spoke them, were imbibed by every 
man who was a free agent in Parliament. In the course 
of hit speech he assailed Lord Castlereagh with a strength 


400 


RISE AND FALL 


and unreserved severity, which greatly exceeded the usual 
bounds of his philippics. 

Cool and deliberate irony, ten times more piercing than 
the sharpest satire, flowed from his lips, in a slow rolling 
flood of indignant denunciation. His calm language 
never for one moment yielded to his warm impressions; 
and it was doubly formidable, from being restrained by 
prudence, and dictated by conviction. 

During Mr. Ponsonby’s oration, a very impressive 
scene was exhibiting on the treasury bench. Lord Castle- 
reagh had been anticipated—he seemed to be astounded 
—he moved restlessly on his seat—he became obviously 
disconcerted, whispered to those who sat near him, and 
appeared more sensitive than he had ever been on any 
public occasion. 

As Mr. Ponsonby advanced, the Secretary became more 
affected; occasionally he rose to interrupt; and when 
Mr. Ponsonby ceased, he appeared to be struggling with 
violent emotions: but he was unable to suppress the 
poignancy of his feelings, and he writhed under the casti¬ 
gation. His face flushed—his eyes kindled—and, for the 
first time in that House, he appeared to be rising into a 
high slate of agitation. Mr. Ponsonby, who stood directly 
before him, formed an admirable contrast: not a feature 
moved—not a muscle was disturbed ; his small grey eyes 
rivetted upon his adversary, expressed contempt and supe¬ 
riority more eloquently than language; and with these 
cool and scornful glances, which are altogether indes¬ 
cribable, Mr. Ponsonby, unperturbed, hstened to a reply 
which raised Lord Castlereagh in the estimation of his 
adherents. 

He had that morning decided on a course which the 
experience of the former evening had induced him to 
think might affect the debate in favour of the Govern¬ 
ment. He had resolved to act on the offensive, and, by 
an extravagant invective against the principles of the 
Anti-Unionists, to blind and detach some of the dullest 
of the country gentlemen from a party which he intended 
to represent as an anarchial faction ; and by holding up 
to his supporters an exemplary contempt for all public 
opinion, diminish the effect of patriotic declamation, from 
tne powerful effect of which the opponents of a Union 






1. lord/ Edward Fitzgerald. t.Lord {rattier eagh/. 
'l.UWltun Ctmswngluun Fliuiket. ,5. Johns Egans. 

3 Charles Kendal Ihtshe. C. Doctor Fatricb Daignetuuv. 

7. Fir J.ai/rcnce Carsons. 



OP THE IRISH NATION. 


401 


acquired so much strength and importance. On these 
grounds he had decided to act boldly himself, and to 
encourage and excite a simultaneous attack upon the 
principles and conduct of the leading members who 
opposed him. 

XV. For this species of conflict the youthful Minister 
was admirably adapted. He had sufficient firmness to 
advance, and sufficient pertinacity to persist in any asser¬ 
tion. Never had he more occasion to exert all his 
powers ; nor did he fail in his efforts. He had no qualms 
or compunction to arrest his progress. In his reply there 
was no assertion he did not risk—no circumstance he did 
not vouch for—no aspersion he did not cast; and he 
even went lengths which he afterwards repented. To the 
Bar he applied the term “ pettifoggers; ” to the Opposi¬ 
tion, “ cabal—combinators—desperate faction f and to 
the nation itself, “ barbarism—ignorance,” and “ insen¬ 
sibility to protection and paternal regards she had ever 
experienced from the British nation.” His speech was 
severe beyond any thing he had ever uttered within the 
walls of Parliament, and far exceeded the powers he was 
supposed to possess. He raked up every act of Mr. 
Ponsonby’s political career, and handled it with a mas¬ 
terly severity ; but it was in the tone and in the manner 
of an angry gentleman. He had flown at the highest 
game, and his opponent (never off his guard) attended to 
his Lordship with a contemptuous and imperturbable 
placidity, which frequently gave Mr. Ponsonby a great 
advantage over warmer debaters. On this occasion he 
seemed not at all to feel the language of Lord Castle- 
reagh ; he knew that he had provoked it, and he saw 
that he had spoken effectually by the irritation of his 
opponent. 

Lord Castlereagh was greatly exhausted, and Mr. Pon¬ 
sonby, turning round, audibly observed, with a frigid 
smile, and an air of utter indifference—“ the ravings of 
an irritated youth—it was natural.” 

This was one of the most important personal conflicts 
during the discussions of the Union, and it had a very 
powerful effect, at least, on the spirit of his Lordship’s 
followers. Truth was unimportant to him : on personal 
attacks, his misrepresentation might honourably be 
34 * 


402 


RTSE AND FALL 


traded at convenient opportunities. He had no public 
character to forfeit; and a majority of his supporters 
were similarly circumstanced. Prompt personal hostility, 
therefore, was the line he had that morning decided on; 
and it was the most politic step a minister so desperately 
circumstanced could adopt. When vicious measures are 
irrevocably adopted, obtrusive compunction must in¬ 
stantly be banished. He determined to reject every con¬ 
sideration, but that of increasing his majority; but he was 
routed by the very course he had calculated on to ensure 
a victory. The foresight of Mr. Ponsonby had pene¬ 
trated through his policy, and showed him that, to coun¬ 
teract the enemy, he should become the assailant, seize 
the very position his adversary had selected, and antici¬ 
pate the very line on which he had determined to try the 
battle. This line Mr. Ponsonby had acted upon, and in 
this he had succeeded. 

The discussion now proceeded with extraordinary as¬ 
perity; but the influence of the Speaker, with a few ex¬ 
ceptions, preserved the Members in tolerable order: it 
was often difficult to determine which side transgressed 
the most. Mr. Arthur Moore on this night took a de¬ 
cided part; and Mr. Egan trampled down the metaphori¬ 
cal sophistries of Mr. William Smith, as to the compe¬ 
tence of Parliament; such reasoning he called rubbish, 
and such reasoners were scavengers; like a dray horse he 
galloped over all his opponents, plunging and kicking, 
and overthrowing all before him. No member on that 
night pronounced a more sincere, clumsy, oowerful ora¬ 
tion—of matter he had abundance—of language he made 
no selection; and he was aptly compared to the Trojan 
horse, sounding as if he had armed men within him. 

Never was there a more unfortunate quotation for the 
Government than one made by Mr. Serjeant Stanly ftoni 
Judge Blackstone. 

The dictum of a puisne Judge, in a British court of 
law, was cited, to influence the opinion of 300 members 
in the Irish Parliament on the subject of their own anni¬ 
hilation. 

The debate continued with undiminished animation 
and hostility until ten o’clock on the morning of the 24th, 
ivhen Sir Laurence Parsons (Lord Rosse) supported 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


403 


Mr. Ponsonby in a speech luminous, and in some parts 
almost sublime. He had caught the flame which his 
coLeague had but kindled, and blazed with an eloquence 
of which he had shown but few examples, the impression 
was powerful. 

Mr. Frederick Falkiner, member for Dublin County, 
who immediately followed, was one of the most remark¬ 
able instances of inflexible public integrity in Ireland ; he 
would have been a valuable acquisition to the Govern¬ 
ment, but nothing could corrupt him. Week after week 
he was ineffectually tempted, through his friends, by a 
peerage or aught he might desire ; he replied: “I am 
poor, ‘tis true; but no human power, no reward, no tor¬ 
ture, no elevation, shall ever tempt me to betray my 
country, never mention to me again so infamous a pro¬ 
posal.” He was, however, afterwards treated ungratefully 
by the very constituents whom he had obeyed, and died 
a victim to poverty and patriotism. 

Mr. James Fitzgerald had been dismissed from the 
office of Prime Serjeant, the highest at the bar, for 
refusing to relinquish his independence. He scorned to 
retain it under circumstances of dishonour, and on this 
night spoke at great length, and with a train of reasoning 
which must have been decisive in an uncorrupted 
assembly; he refused every offer, and never returned to 
office.* 

Colonel Maxwell, (Lord Farnham), Mr. Lee (Water¬ 
ford), Mr. Barrington Judge of the High Court of Admi¬ 
ralty, and many others, pressed forward to deliver their 
sentiments against so fatal a project. Every moment the 
debate grew warmer, and the determination to oppose it 
became more obvious, the members of Government were 
staggered, the storm increased, but Lord Castlereagh was 
calm; he rose and spoke with a confident assurance 

* No man in Ireland was more sincere in his opposition to a Union 
than Mr. Fitzgerald; he was the first who declared his intention ol 
writing its history. 

He afterwards relinquished the design, and urged me to commence it— 
he handed me the prospectus of what he intended, and no man in Ire¬ 
land knew the occult details of that proceeding better than he. He i« 
the Father of Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald; had a very good fortune, and was 
one of the most successful and persevering lawyers that ever piactise! p 
Ireland. 


104 


RISE AND FALL 


peculiar to himself; and particularly disavowed alt cor¬ 
ruption, though he had dismissed every man who would 
not promise to support him, and had near seventy subser¬ 
vient placemen at that moment on his side. 

XVL At length Mr. Plunket arose, and, in the ablest 
speech ever heard by any member in that Parliament, 
went at once to the grand and decisive point, the incom¬ 
petence of Parliament, he could go no further on principle 
tiian Mr. Ponsonby, but his language was irresistible, and 
he left nothing to be urged. It was perfect in eloquence, 
and unanswerable in reasoning. Its effect was indescri¬ 
bable ; and, for the first time, Lord Castlereagh, whom he 
personally assailed, seemed to shrink from the encounter. 
That speech was of great weight, and it proved the elo¬ 
quence, the sincerity, and the fortitude of the speaker. 

But a short speech on that night, which gave a new 
sensation, and excited novel observations, was a maiden 
speech by Colonel O’Donnell of Mayo County, the eldest 
son of Sir Neil O’Donnell, a man of very large fortune in 
that county ; he was colonel of the Mayo regiment. He 
was a brave officer, and a well bred gentleman; and in 
ail the situations of life he showed excellent qualities. On 
this night, roused by Lord Castlereagh’s invectives, he 
could not contain his indignation ; and by anticipation 
“ disclaimed all future allegiance, if a Union were effect¬ 
ed, he held it as a vicious revolution, and avowed that he 
would take the field at the head of his regiment to oppose 
its execution, and would resist rebels in rich clothes as he 
had done the rebels in rags.” And for his speech in 
Parliament he was dismissed his regiment without further 
notice. 

As a contrast to the language of Colonel O’Donnell, it 
is curious to observe the new exhibition of Mr. Trench, 
of Woodlawn. He was not satisfied with the disgusting 
exhibition of the preceding night, but again introduced 
himself to a notice which common modesty would have 
avoided. He now entered into a defence of his former 
tergiversation, and, most unfortunately for himself, con¬ 
tradicted distinctly the substance of both his former 
speeches. He thus solved all the doubts which might 
have arisen as to his former conduct, closed the mouth 
of every friend from any possibility of defending him, 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


405 


*nd deth ered himself, without reserve, into the hands of 
In’s seducers. He said, “ he had, since the night before, 
been fully convinced of the advantages of a Union, and 
would certainly support it.” The Irish Peerage was soon 
honoured by his addition, as Lord Ashtown. 

After the most stormy debate remembered in the Irish 
Parliament, the question was loudly called for by the 
Opposition, who were now tolerably secure of a majority, 
never did so much solicilude appear in any public 
assembly; at length above sixty members had spoken, 
the subject was exhausted, and all parties seemed im¬ 
patient. The House divided, and the Opposittion with¬ 
drew to the Court of Requests. It is not easy to conceive, 
still less to describe, the anxiety of that moment; a con¬ 
siderable delay took place. Mr. Ponsonby and Sir 
Laurence Parsons were at length named tellers for the 
amendment; Mr. W. Smith and Lord Tyrone for the ad¬ 
dress. One hundred and eleven members had declared 
against the Union, and when the doors were opened, one 
hundred and five was discovered to be the total number 
of the Minister’s adherents. The gratification of the 
Anti-Unionists was . unbounded ; and as they walked 
deliberately in, one by one, to be counted, the eager spec¬ 
tators, ladies as well as gentlemen, leaning over the gal¬ 
leries, ignorant of the result, were panting with expecta¬ 
tion. Lady Castlereagb, then one of the finest women 
of the Court, appeared in the serjeant’s box, palpitating 
for her husband’s fate. The desponding appearance and 
fallen crests of the Ministerial benches, and the exulting 
air of the opposition members as they entered, were in¬ 
telligible.* The murmurs of suppressed anxiety would 
have excited an interest even in the most unconnected 

* Mr. Egan, Chairman oi Dublin County, a coarse, large, bluff, red¬ 
faced Irishman, was the last who entered. His exultation knew no 
bounds; as No. 110 was announced, he stopped a moment at the Ba*-, 
flourished a great stick which he had in his hand over his head, and 
with the voice of a Stentor cried out, “And I’m a hundred and eleven !’* 
He then sat quietly down, and burst out into an immoderate and almos- 
convulsive (it of laughter; it was all heart. Never was there a finer 
picture of genuine patriotism. He was very far from being rich, and had 
an offer to be made a Baron of the Exchequer, with 3,500/. a year, if he 
M^uld support the Union, but refused it with indignation. On any othei 
tnbject he would have supported the Government. 


406 


RISE AND FALL 


stranger, who had known the objects and importance oi 
the contest. How much more, therefore, must every 
[rish breast which panted in the galleries have experi¬ 
enced that thrilling enthusiasm which accompanies the 
achievement of patriotic actions, when the Minister's de¬ 
feat was announced from the chair ! A due sense of re¬ 
spect and decorum restrained the galleries within proper 
bounds ; but a low cry of satisfaction from the female 
audience could not be prevented, and no sooner was the 
event made known out of doors, than the crowds that 
had waited during the entire night, with increasing im¬ 
patience for the vote which was to decide upon the inde¬ 
pendence of their country, sent forth loud and reiterated 
shouts of exultation, which, resounding through the cor¬ 
ridors and penetrating to the body of the House, added to 
the triumph of the conquerors, and to the misery of the 
adherents of the conquered Minister. 

The numbers on this division were :— 

For Mr. Ponsonby’s Amendment ..... Ill 

For Lord Tyrone’s address . 105 

Majority against Government . . 6 

On this debate, the members who voted were circum 
stanced as follows :— 

Members holding offices during pleasure ... 69 

Members rewarded by offices for their votes ... 19 

Member openly seduced in the body of the House . . l 

Commoners created peers, or their wives peeresses, for 
their votes . jg 

102 

Supposed to be uninfluenced . . .... 3 


The House composed of . . .3 00 

Voted that night. .216 


Absent Members .... .. 

Of these eighty-four absent members, twenty-four were 
kept away by absolute necessity, and of the residue there 
tan be no doubt they were not friends to the Union, from 





OF THE IRISH NATI-IN. 


407 

this plain reason—that the Government had the power of 
enforcing the attendance of all the dependent members, 
and the Opposition had no power, they had none but vol¬ 
untary supporters : of which number Lord Castlereagh 
was enabled to seduce forty-three during the prorogation, 
and by that acquisition out-voted the Anti-Unionists on 
the 5th of February, 1800. 

XY1I. The members assembled in the lobby were 
preparing to separate, when Mr. Ponsonby requested they 
would return into the House and continue a very few 
minutes, as he had business of the utmost importance for 
their consideration ; this produced a profound silence ; 
Mr. Ponsonby than, in a few words, “ congratulated the 
House and the country on the honest and patriotic asser¬ 
tion of their liberties ; but declared, that he considered 
there would be no security against future attempts to 
overthrow their independence, but Ivy a direct and abso¬ 
lute declaration of the rights of Irishmen, recorded upon 
their journals, as the decided sense of the people, through 
their Parliament; and he, therefore, without further pre¬ 
face, moved, “ That this House will ever maintain the 
undoubted birthright of Irishmen , by preserving an 
independent Parliament of Lords and. Commons resi¬ 
dent in this Kingdom , as stated and approved by his 
Majesty and the British Parliament in 1782.” 

Lord Castlereagh, conceiving that further resistance 
was unavailing, only said, “that he considered such a 
motion of the most dangerous tendency ; however, if the 
House were determined on it, he begged to declare his 
entire dissent, and on their own heads be the consequences 
of so wrong and inconsidrate a measure.” No further 
opposition was made by Government ; and the Speaker 
putting the question, a loud cry of approbation followed, 
with but two negatives, those of Lord Castlereagh and 
Mr. Toler (Lord Norbury); the motion was carried, and 
the members were rising to withdraw, when the Speaker 
wishing to be strictly correct, called to Mr. Ponsonby, to 
write down his motion accurately ; he, accordingly, 
walked to the table to write it down. This delay of a 
few moments, unimportant as it might seem in the 
common course of human occurrences, was an incident 
which, ultimately deranged the constitution of an empire, 


408 


RISE AND FALL 


and annihilated the legislature of an independent naticis. 
a. single moment, the most critical that ever occurred in 
history; and of all the events of Ireland, the most fata 1 , 
and irretrievable. 

This may teach posterity, that the destinies of nations 
are governed by the same chances, subject to the same 
fatalities, and affected by the same misfortunes, as those 
of the humblest individual. 

XVIII. Whilst Mr. Ponsonby was writing his motion, 
every member, in profound silence, was observing the 
sensations of the opposite party, and conjecturing the 
feelings and anticipating the conduct of their adversaries. 

This motion involved, in one sentence, every thing 
which was sought after by the one party and dreaded by 
the other ; its adoption must have ruined the Minister 
and dismissed the Irish Government. The Treasury 
Bench held a mournful silence, the Attorney General, 
Mr. Toler, alone appeared to bear his impending misfor¬ 
tune with a portion of that ease and playfulness which 
never forsook him. 

On Mr. Ponsonby’s handing up his motion, he stood 
firm and collected, and looked around him with the honest 
confidence of a man who had performed his duty and 
saved his country, the silence of death prevailed in the 
galleries, and the whole assembly displayed a spectacle 
f,.s solemn and important as any country or any era had 
ever exhibited. 

The Speaker repeated the question—“the ayes” burst 
forth into a loud peal, the gallery was in immediate 
motion, all was congratulation. On the question being 
put the second time (as was usual), a still louder and more 
reiterated cry of u aye, aye,” resounded from everv 
quarter; only the same two negatives were heard, feebly, 
from the ministerial side, Government had given up the 
contest, and the independence of Ireland was on the very 
verge of permanent security, when Mr. William Charles 
Uortescue. member for Louth County, requested to be 
heard before the final decision was announced. 

He said, “ that he was adverse to the measure of a 
legislative Union, and had given his decided vote against 
it, but he did not wish to bind himself for ever ; possible 
circumstances might hereafter occur, which might lender 


CT . HE IRISH NATION 


409 


dial measu *e expedient for the empire, and he did not 
approve of any determination which for ever closed the 
doors against any possibility of future discussion.” 

The Opposition were paralyzed, the Government were 
roused, a single sentence plausibly conceived, and (without 
reflecting on its destructive consequence) moderately 
uttered, by a respectable man, and an avowed Anti- 
Unionist, eventually decided the fate of the Irish nation. 
It offered a pretext tor timidity, a precedent for caution, 
and a subterfuge for wavering venality. 

XIX. Mr. French, of Roscommon, a country gentleman 
of high character, and Lord Cole, a young nobleman of 
an honest, inconsiderate mind, who had, on the last division, 
voted sincerely against the Minister, now, without a mo¬ 
ment’s reflection on the ruin which must necessarily attend 
every diversity of sentiment in a party associated by only 
one tie, and bound together only upon one subject, declared 
themselves of Mr. Fortescue’s opinion. Mr. John Claudius 
Beresford,* who had only been restrained from adhesion 
to the Clare connection by being representative of the me¬ 
tropolis, avowed himself of the same determination; and 
thus that constitutional security, which a direct and pe¬ 
remptory declaration of indefeasible rights, one moment 
before, was on the point of permanently establishing, was, 
by the inconsiderate and temporising words of one feeble 
minded member, lost for ever. It is impossible to express 
the surprise and disappointment of the Anti-Unionists. 

To be defeated by the effort of an enemy was to be 
borne, but to fall by the secession of a friend was insup¬ 
portable. The narrow jealousies and unconnected mate¬ 
rials of the Anti-Unionists were no longer to be concealed, 
either from friends or enemies. Mr. Ponsonby felt the 
critical situation of the country, the opposition had but a 
majority of five on the first division ; three seceders would 
have given a majority to Government, and a division could 
not be risked. 

Mr. Ponsonby’s presence of mind instantly suggested 

* Mr. John Claudius Beresford, though he could not vote against thi 
traductions of t*le City , took every opportunity of expressing, incident¬ 
ally, his entire confuknce in the fair intentions of Lord CastlcreogrCi 
government: and never appjared to be really sincere in his opposition 
Y) a Cnicu. His speech is a fine specimen of temporizing 


RISE AND FALL 


410 

viie only remaining alternative. He lamented “that the 
smallest contrariety of opinion should have arisen amongst 
men who ought to be united by the most powerful of ah 
inducements, the salvation of their independence. He 
perceived however, a wish that he should not press the 
motion, founded, he supposed, on a mistaken confidence 
in the engagements of the Noble Lord (Lord Castlereagh,) 
that he would not again bring forward that ruinous 
measure without the decided approbation of the people, 
and of the Parliament. Though he must doubt the sin¬ 
cerity of the Minister’s engagements, he could not hesitate 
to acquiesce in the wishes of his friends, and he would 
therefore withdraw his motion.” 

XX. The sudden transition from exultation to despon¬ 
dency became instantly apparent, by the dead silence 
which followed Mr. Ponsonby’s declaration, the change 
was so rapid and so unexpected, that from the galleries, 
which a moment before were full of congratulation and 
of pleasure, not a single word was heard, crest-fallen and 
humbled, many instantly withdrew from the scene, and 
though the people without knew of nothing but their 
victory, the retreat was a subject of the most serious soli¬ 
citude to every friend of Irish independence. 

Such an advantage could not escape the anxious eye of 
Government; chagrin and disappointment had changed 
sides, and the friends of the Union, who a moment before 
had considered their measure as nearly extinguished, rose 
upon their success, retorted in their turn, and opposed its 
being withdrawn. It was, however, too tender a ground 
for either party to insist upon a division, a debate was 
equally to be avoided, and the motion was suifered to be 
withdrawn. Sir Henry Cavendish keentyand sarcastically 
remarked, that “ it was a retreat after a victory.” After 
a day’s and a night’s debate without intermission, the 
House adjourned at eleven o’clock the ensuing morning. 

Upon the rising of the House, the populace became 
tumultuous, and a violent disposition against those who 
had supported the Union was manifest, not only amongst 
the common people, but amongst those of a much highei 
class, who had been mingling with them. 

On the Speaker’s coming out of the House, the horses 
Were taken from his carriage, and he was drawn in ti iumph 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


ill 


through the streets by the people, who conceived the 
whimsical idea of tackling the Lord Chancellor to the 
coach, and (as a captive general in a Roman triumph) 
forcing him to tug at the chariot of his conqueror. 

Had it been effected, it would have been a signal anec¬ 
dote, and would, at least, have immortalized the classic 
genius of the Irish. 

The populace closely pursued his Lordship for that 
extraordinary purpose; he escaped with great difficulty, 
and fled, with a pistol in his hand, to a receding door-way 
in Clarendon-street. But the people, who pursued him 
in sport, set up a loud laugh at him, as he stood terrified 
against the door ; they offered him no personal violence, 
and returned in high glee to their more innocent amuse¬ 
ment of drawing the Speaker. 

XXL A scene of joy and triumph appeared universal, 
every countenance had a smile, throughout all ranks and 
classes of the people, men shook their neighbours heartily 
by the hand, as if the Minister’s defeat was an event of 
individual good fortune, the mob seemed as well disposed 
to joy as mischief, and that was saying much for a Dublin 
assemblage. But a view of their enemies, as they came 
skulking from behind the corridors, occasionally roused 
them to no very tranquil temperature. Some members 
had to try their speed, and others their intrepidity. Mr. 
Richard Martin, unable to get clear, turned on his hunters, 
and boldly faced a mob of many thousands, with a small 
pocket pistol in his hand. He swore most vehemently, 
that, if they advanced six inches on him, he would imme¬ 
diately “ shoot every mother's babe of them as dead as that 
paving stone”—(kicking one.) The united spirit and fun 
of his declaration, and his little pocket pistol, aimed at 
ten thousand men, women, and children, were so entirely 
to the taste of our Irish populace, that all symptoms of 
hostility ceased; they gave him three cheers, and he re¬ 
gained his home without further molestation. 

Mr. O’Driscol, a gentleman of the Irish Bar, one of the 
most sincere and active Anti-Unionists, used great and 
successful efforts to tranquilize the people ; and to his 
persuasions was chiefly to be attributed their peaceable 
dispersion. In one particular instance, he certainly pro- 


412 


RISE AND FALL 


rented a most atrocious mischief, if not a great crime, by 
his prompt and spirited interference. 

The House of Lords met on the 22d of January, 1799, 
the same day as the Commons, to receive the speech of 
the Viceroy. Though the nation was not unprepared for 
any instauce of its subserviency, some patriotic spirits 
might reasonably have been expected on so momentous 
a subject as the Union ; in this expectation, however, it 
was but feebly gratified. 

Never did a body of hereditary nobles, many of ancient 
family, and several of splendid fortune, so disgrttce their 
ancestry. 

After an ineffectual resistance by some, whose integrity 
was invincible, the Irish Lords recorded their own humi¬ 
liation, and, in a state of absolute infatuation, perpetrated 
the most extraordinary act of legislative suicide which 
ever stained the records of a nation. 

The reply of the Irish Lords, to the speech of the Bn 
tish Viceroy, coincided in his recommendation, and vir¬ 
tually consented to prostrate themselves and their posterity 
for ever. The prerogatives of rank, the pride of ancestry, 
the glory of the peerage, and the rights of the country, 
were equally sacrificed. 

The facility with which the Irish Lords re-echoed their 
sentence of extinction was quite unexampled. 

That stultified facility can only be elucidated by taking 
K brief statistical view of what was once considered an 
august assembly, but which the over-bearing influence of 
the absolute and vindictive Chancellor had for some years 
reduced to a mere instrument of his ambition. 

In the hands of the Chancellor, Lord Clare, the House 
was powerless, his mere automaton or puppet, which he 
coerced or humoured, according to his ambition or caprice. 

There were, however, amongst the Irish nobility, a few 
men of spirit, pride, talent, and integrity; but they were 
too few for resistance. 

The education of the Irish noblemen of that day was 
little calculated for debate or Parliamentary duties ; they 
very seldom took any active part in Parliamentary dis¬ 
cussions, and more rarely attained to that confidence in 
public speaking, without which no effect can be produced. 
They could argue, or might declaim, but were unequal ta 


OP* THE IRTSH NATION. 


413 


what is termed debate; and being confirmed in their tor 
pidity by an habitual abstinence from Parliamentary dis¬ 
cussions, when the day of danger came, they were unequal 
to the contest. 

Lord Clare, on the contrary, from his forensic habits, 
his dogmatic arrogance, and unrestrained invective, had 
an incalculable advantage over less practised reasoners. 
The modest were overwhelmed by flights of astounding 
rhapsody, the patriotic borne down by calumny, the dif¬ 
fident silenced by contemptuous irony ; and nearly the 
whole of the Peerage, without being able to account for 
their pusillanimity, were either trampled under his feet, or 
were mere puppets in the grasp of this all-powerful Chan¬ 
cellor. Such was the state of the Irish Lords in 1799. 
The extent of Lord Clare’s connections, and the energy of 
his conduct during the last insurrection, had contributed 
to render him nearly despotic over both the Government 
and the country. Dickson, Bishop of Down, and Marlay, 
Bishop of Limerick, were the only spiritual peers that 
ventured to oppose him, both were of invincible integrity 
and undeviating patriotism, his Grace of Limerick was 
the uncle of Mr. Grattan; and the Bishop of Down was 
the intimate friend of Mr. Fox: unfortunately, both were 
too mild, unassuming, and dignified, to contend success¬ 
fully against so haughty and remorseless an opponent. 

XXII. The Bishop of Down was a prelate of the most 
faultless character, the extreme beauty of his countenance, 
the gentleness of his manners, and the patriarchal dignity 
of his figure, rendered him one of the most interesting 
persons in society. 

His talents were considerable, but they were neutralized 
by his modesty; and he seldom could be prevailed upon 
to rise in the House of Peers upon political subjects. On 
this night, however, stung to the quick by the invectives, 
and indignant at the designs of the Chancellor, he made a 
reply to him of which he was supposed incapable. Severity 
from the Bishop of Down was likewise so unusual, that 
the few sentences he pronounced, stunned the champion 
more than all the speeches of his more disciplined oppo¬ 
nents. 

Nothing, however, could overcome the influence of Lord 
Clare. The Irish Lords lay prostrate before the Govern- 

35* 


414 


RISE AND FALL 


merit, but the leaders were not inattentive to their own 
interests. The defeat of Government in the Commons 
gave them an importance they had not expected. 

The debates and conduct of the Irish peers bear a com¬ 
paratively unimportant share in the transactions of that 
epoch, and have but little interest in the memoirs of those 
times; but the accounts of Lord Annesley, &c., record 
their corruption.* 

It is not the object, therefore, of these anecdotes, to 
dilate more upon the proceedings of that degraded assem¬ 
bly, than incidentally to introduce, as episodes, their in¬ 
dividual actions, and to state that a great proportion of 
the million and a half levied upon Ireland, and distributed 
by Lord Castlereagh’s Commissioners of Compensation, 
went into the pockets of the Lords Spiritual and Tempo¬ 
ral of Ireland. 

XXIII. From the hour that Mr. Ponsonby’s motion 
was withdrawn, Government gained strength, the standard 
of visionary honours and of corrupt emoluments was 
raised for recruits, a congratulatory, instead of a conso¬ 
latory dispatch, had been instantly forwarded to Mr. Pitt, 
and another to the Duke of Portland ; and it was not 
difficult to foresee, that the result of that night, though 
apparently a victory over the proposition for a Union, 
afforded so strong a point for the Minister in the subse¬ 
quent negotiations, by which he had determined to achieve 
his measure. The arguments and divisions on succeed¬ 
ing debates proved, beyond the possibility of question, 
the overwhelming advantage which Mr. Fortescue’s pre¬ 
cedent had given to those who were determined to dis¬ 
pose of their consistency under colour of their moderation. 

The bad consequences which were likely to result from 
this event, did not at first occur to many of the Opposi¬ 
tion. Some of the leading members of that party, highly 
elated at the success of the last division, could see r.o- 

* It is supposed that the important parts of those records have been 
suppressed at court; the writer could only trace them to the bureau of 
Lord Annesley, but never could procure authenticated extracts. It is 
therefore only from the payments at the Treasury, and the admission of 
the parties, that the corrupt payments can be substantiated. One volume 
of the reports made by the commissioners of compensation and distribu¬ 
tion of <£*1,500,000 was given to the Author by Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald* 
some exhaets are given from it; the rest have been suppressed. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


418 


thing but the prospect of ail increasing majority and an 
ultimate triumph ; these were numerous but short-sighted. 
Others regarded, with a wise solicitude, the palpable 
want of political connection in the party that opposed the 
Minister. However, Lord Castlereagh who had so con¬ 
fidently pressed forward a measure which Parliament 
had decidedly rejected, and the public universally repro¬ 
bated, found his situation the most difficult imaginable. 
He had no just reason to expect support in* minor 
measures, who had proved himself utterly unworthy of 
the confidence of Parliament on one of the first magni¬ 
tude. His pride was humbled, but his firmness and per¬ 
severance overcame his difficulties, and the next import¬ 
ant division on Lord Corry’s motion clearly proved the 
consummate address with which he had trafficked with 
the members during the interval. All the weapons of 
seduction were in his hands ; and, to acquire a majority, 
he had only to overcome the wavering and feeble. A 
motion of Lord Corry’s, made a few days afterwards, in 
order to prevent any future scheme of a Union, after a 
long debate, was also negatived (by a majority of fifty- 
eight), and thus concluded all discussion on the Union 
for that session. The session, however, had scarcely 
closed, when his Lordship recommenced his warfare 
against his country. The treasury was in his hands, 
patronage in his note-book, and all the influence which 
the scourge or the pardon, reward or punishment could 
possibly produce on the trembling rebels, was openly 
resorted to. Lord Cornwallis determined to put Irish 
honesty to the test, and set out upon an experimental 
tour through those parts of the country where the no¬ 
bility and gentry were most likely to entertain him. 
He artfully selected those places where he could best 
make his way with corporations at public dinners, and 
with the aristocracy, country gentlemen, and farmers, by 
visiting their mansions and cottages. Ireland was thus 
canvassed, and every gaol was converted to a hustings. 

In reflecting, therefore, on the extraordinary fate of 
Mr. Ponsonby’s declaratory motion just and not incon* 
siderate alarm must have been excited in the mind of 
every mail who had determined boldly and unequivo 
ealiy to support the freedom of his country. 


416 


RISE AND FALL 


It was not now difficult to perceive, that, to the cool 
and reasoning part of the nation, melancholy forebodings 
must naturally arise, from the decided absence of that 
cordial, unqualified co-operation amongst the members 
of the opposition, by whose undeviating unanimity alone 
the revival of the project, and the probable ruin of the 
country could be resisted. 

It was evident that, by the thoughtless conduct of Mr. 
Fortes'cue, Lord Cole, and Mr. French, the conclusive 
rejection of the proposal was prevented, had they been 
even one moment silent, Ireland would have been a 
proud, prosperous, free, tranquil, and productive member 
of the British Empire. But their puerile inconsistency 
lost their country, gave a clue to the Secretary, and the 
Government, before plunged in a hopeless perplexity, and 
opened a wide door for future discussion, which Mr. Pon 
sonby’s motion would have for ever prevented. 

In a body composed as the Parliament of Ireland, 
though this misfortune must ever be deplored, and those 
gentlemen for ever censured, yet such an event was not 
a subject for astonishment. A great number of those 
who composed the House were most inexperienced states¬ 
men—they meddled but little individually in any arrange¬ 
ment of debates, and voted according to their party or 
their sentiments, without the habit of any previous con¬ 
sultation. 

Such men, therefore, after the last division against the 
Minister, could not suppose he would again revive the 
question, and they partook of the general satisfaction. 
Moderation was now recommended, as the proper course 
for a loyal opposition, and the proposal for a Union hav¬ 
ing been virtually negatived, it was observed by the 
courtly oppositionists to be at least unkind, if not indis¬ 
creet, to push Government further at a “ moment like the 
present” 

On the other hand, those who wished to complete the 
victory, could not shut their eyes to the hazard of mode¬ 
rate proceedings, and their zeal led them to wish to im¬ 
prove their advantage, and, if possible, to remove Lord 
Cornwallis from the Government, as a finishing stroke to 
the measure. But the conduct of Mr. Fortescue and his 
supporters had miserably deceived them, and had con 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


417 


viticed Ihe leaders of the Opposition that they were about 
to tread very uncertain ground, and that their first con¬ 
sideration should be, how far the possibility of attaining 
their ultimate object should be weighed against the pro¬ 
bable event of losing their majority by another trial of 
strength. 

Reasoning people without doors, saw the danger still 
more clearly than those who had individually to encounter 
it. Regardless of the solemn engagements he had made 
in the House, and by which he had imposed on many of 
the opposition, the Minister and his agents lost no oppor¬ 
tunity, nor omitted any means, of making good their 
party amongst the Members who had not publicly declared 
themselves, and of endeavouring to pervert the principles 
and corrupt the consistency of those who had. Lord 
Oastlereagh’s ulterior efforts were extensive and indefati¬ 
gable, his spirit revived and every hour gained ground 
on his opponents. He clearly perceived that the ranks 
of the Opposition were too open to be strong, and too 
mixed to be unanimous. The extraordinary fate of Mr. 
Ponsonby’s declaration of rights, and the debate on a 
similar motion by Lord Corry, which so shortly afterwards 
met a more serious negative, proved the truth of these 
observations, and identified the persons through whom 
that truth was to be afterwards exemplified. 

The disheartening effects of Mr. Fortescue’s conduct 
(notwithstanding the general exultation of the country), 
appeared to make a very powerful impression on the public, 
mind, it was assiduously circulated by Government as a 
triumph, and on all occasions reluctantly alluded to by 
the Anti-Unionists, it became apparent that the increasing 
majority against the minister, on the second division, if 
unaccompanied by that fatal circumstance, would have 
effectually established the progressive power of the oppo¬ 
sition, and rapidly hastened the upset of Government.* 
But the advantage of that majority was lost, and the 

* It is observable, that in all debates of Parliament, “a moment like 
the present” or, “ this is not the time” or, (( it would be highly incon¬ 
venient at this time,” &c. are invariably used as arguments by Ministers 
when they have no substantial reasons to give for their refusals, it is a 
sweeping species of reply of great utility, as it answers all subjects and 
all reasoning. 


118 


RTSE AND FALL 


possibility of exciting division amongst the Anti-Unionists 
could no longer be questioned. This consideration had 
an immediate and extensive effect, the timid recommenced 
their fears, the wavering began to think of consequences 
the venal to negociate: and the public mind, particularly 
amongst the Catholics, who still smarted from the scourge, 
became so deeply affected, and so timorously doubtful, 
that some of the persons, assuming to themselves the title 
of Catholic Leaders * sought an audience, in order to 
inquire from Marquis Cornwallis, “What would be the 
advantage to the Catholics, if a Union should happen to 
be effected in Ireland ?” 

However, great confidence in an ultimate crushing of 
the project kept its place in the Opposition. The Parlia¬ 
ment, unaccustomed to see the Minister with a majority 
of only one, considered him as totally defeated. A rising 
party is sure to gain proselytes. Government, therefore, 
lost ground as the Opposition gained it; and for a few 
days it was generally supposed that the Viceroy and 
Secretary must resign. Many of their adherents shrunk 
from them. A large proportion of Parliament was far 
beyond the power either of fear or corruption, yet the 
impartial history of these times must throw a partial 
shade over the consistency of Ireland, and exhibit some 
of the once leading characters in both Houses in a course 
of the most humiliating, corrupt, and disgusting servility; 
contradicting by the last act of their political lives, the 
whole tenor of their former principles, from the first 
moment they had the power of declaring them to the 
nation. In another quarter, those who formed an Oppo¬ 
sition to the Minister on the question of a Union, had 
been, and wished to continue, his avowed supporters oil 
every other. The custom of the times, the venality of 
the court, even the excessive habits of convivial luxury, 
had combined gradually to blunt the poignancy of public 
spirit, and the activity of patriotic exertions, oil ordinary 

* Mr. Bellew (brother to Sir Patrick Bellew), Mr. Lynch, and some 
others, had several audiences with the Viceroy; the Catholic Bishops 
were generally deceived into the most disgusting subservience, rewards 
were not withheld, Mr. Bellew was to be appointed a County Judge, but 
that being found impracticable, he got a secret pension, which he lias 
enjoyed for thirty'two years. 


OF THE IRISH NATIOW. 


419 


subjects. The terrors of the rebellion, scarcely yet extin¬ 
guished had induced many to cling for protection round a 
government whose principles they had condemned, and 
whose politics they had resisted. The subtle Viceroy knew 
full well how to make his advantage of the moment, and 
by keeping up the delusion, under the name of loyalty 
and discretion , he restrained within narrow limits the 
spirit of constitutional independence wherever he found 
he could not otherwise subdue it.* 

* Mr. Curran, Mr. Grattan, and some other members of the Opposition, 
seceded from the new Parliament. Never was any step more indiscreet, 
more ill timed, or to themselves moie injurious; that the cause of Ireland 
should lose two such advocates at the very moment she most required 
them, was truly unfortunate. Mr. Grattan returned to Parliament when 
&o late, Mr. Curran, never; auui h s fine taints were lost to hiinsgtf sod 
is country for ever 


420 


RISE AND FAL* 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

Hie different views of the Opposition—Opposition not sufficiently or¬ 
ganized or connected—Disunion in consequence of the Catholic que*« 
tion—Catholics duped—Alternately oppressed and fostered — Lori 
Clare’s great influence—Very important despatch from Mr. Pitt, to 
Lord Cornwallis—Unprecedented plan of Lord Castlereagh—Remark 
able dinner—The plan or conspiracy—Acceded to—Rewards in Per¬ 
spective—Meeting of Anti-Unionists at Lord Charlemont’s—Opposi¬ 
tion Lords meet—Lord Castle reagh’s Plan laid before them—Counter- 
plan proposed—Rejected—Earl beimore—His motion to the samfi 
effec t as Mr. Ponsonby’s—Rejected—Very numerous addresses against 
the Union—Particularly Dublin—A Privy Council—Lord Clare’s vio¬ 
lence—Military execution—People killed and wounded—Inefficiently 
brought before Parliament—Anti-Union dinner—Mi. Handcock of 
Athlone, a conspicuous patriot—Corrupt state of the British Parlia¬ 
ment—Compared with that of Ireland at the Union—Mr Handcoc* 
bribed 

I. The Members of the old Opposition who had been 
returned to the new Parliament in 1797. did not exceed 
fifty; but several others, who had been connected (and 
some of them closely) with Government, showed a ten¬ 
dency, on the Union alone to sever themselves from their 
old attachment; accustomed to support administration, 
they formed no cordial co-operation with those who had 
professed a more extensive principle of opposition; and 
though they wished to oppose the Union , they did not 
wish to oppose the Minister , and they acted without 
decisive effect, because they wrought on too contracted a 
foundation. 

The opposition to Union were, in fact, united on no 
one question but that of the Union, even in the measure 
of that opposition they were not agreed, much less in the 
mode of securing a retreat or of profiting by a victory. 
But still the opposition to annexation brought them closely 
together. A view of the House at this period was quite 
unprecedented; the friends of Catholic Emancipation were 
seen on the same benches with those of Protestant ascea* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


421 


deucy, the supporters of reform divided with the borough 
influence, a sense of common danger drew men together 
on this topic who were dissimilar in sentiment, adverse in 
opinion, jealous in interest, and antagonists in principle. 
They conjointly presented a formidable front to the enemy, 
but possessed within themselves neither subordination nor 
unqualified unanimity, qualities which were essentially 
necessary to preserve so heterogeneous a body from the 
destructive weapons which were provided for their over¬ 
throw. 

There was no great leader whom they could collec¬ 
tively consult or obey, no systematic course determined 
on for their conduct, no pre-arranged plan of proceeding 
without doors, or practical arrangement for internal de¬ 
bate ; their energies were personal, their enthusiasm 
graduated, and their exertions not gregarious. Every 
man formed his own line of procedure: the battle was 
hand to hand, the movements desultory; whether they 
clashed with the general interest, or injured the general 
cause, was hardly contemplated, and seldom perceived 
until the injury had happened. 

II. The talent of Parliament principally existed amongst 
the members who had formed the general opposition to 
the Union. Some habitual friends of administration, there¬ 
fore, who had on this single question seceded from the 
Court, and who wished to resume their old habits on the 
Union being disposed of, obviously felt a portion of narrow 
jealousy at being led by those whom they had been accus¬ 
tomed to oppose , and reluctantly joined in any liberal 
opposition to a Court which they had been in the habit of 
supporting. They desired to vote against the Union in 
the abstract, but to commit themselves no farther against 
the Minister. Many, upon this temporizing and ineffective 
principle, cautiously avoided any discussion, save upon 
the direct proposition; and this was remarkable, and felt 
to be ruinous in the succeeding session.* 

Rut the strongeit and most fatal cause of division 
amongst the Members of the opposition, was certainly 

* It is worthy of observation, that Lori Castlereagh was so aware of 
that feeling amongst those who opposed the Union, that, in 1800 , Lord 
Cornwallis’s speech did not even hint at a revival of that measure 
Hence the diminished minoritv on Sir Laurence Parson’s motion. 

36 


422 


RISE AND FALL 


theii radical difference of opinion on the Catholic question 
Those who had determined to support the Catholic cause, 
as the surest mode of preventing any future attempts m 
attain a Union, were obliged to dissemble their intentions 
of proposing emancipation, lest they should disgust the 
Catholic opponents who acted with them solely against 
the Union. Those who were enemies to Catholic relax¬ 
ation were also obliged to conceal their wishes, lest their 
determination to resist that measure should disgust the 
advocates of emancipation, who had united with them on 
the present occasion. 

The Viceroy knew mankind too well to dismiss the 
Catholics without a comfortable conviction of their certain 
< mancipation ; he turned to them the honest side of his 
countenance: the priests bowed before the soldierly con¬ 
descensions of a starred veteran. The titular Archbishop 
was led to believe he would instantly become a real 
prelate; and before the negociation concluded, Dr. Troy 
was consecrated a decided Unionist, and was directed to 
send pastoral letters to his colleagues to promote it. 
Never yet did any clergy so retrograde as the Catholic 
hierarchy, &c., on that occasion. It is true that they were 
deceived; but it was a corrupt deception, and they felt it 
during eight and twenty years. Most of them have since 
sojourned to the grave, simple titulars, and have left a 
double lesson to the world, that Priests and Governments 
can rely but little on each other, and that the people 
should in general be very sceptical in relying upon either. 

Nothing could be more culpable than the conduct of a 
considerable portion of the Catholic clergy; the Catholic 
body were misled, or neutralized, throughout the entire of 
that unfortunate era. In 1798 they were hanged ; in 1799 
they were caressed ; in 1800 they were cajoled ; in 1801 
they were discarded; and, after a lapse of twenty-six years, 
they were complaining louder than when they were in 
slavery. Nothing can now keep pace with their popula¬ 
tion but their poverty; and no body of men ever gave a 
more helping hand to their own degradation and misery. 

Lord Castlereagh, in his nature decided and persevering, 
was stimulated still more by the spirit and arrogance of 
the restless and indefatigable Chancellor. Lord Clara 
had professed himself an enemy to the Union; but, de- 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


423 


Hided by his ambition, he conceived he might rule the 
British councils, as he had governed those of Ireland. 
The Union, rejected his power would be extinguished ; if 
it were carried, his influence might be transferred to a 
larger field; he therefore determined that the measure 
should be achieved, whether by fraud, or force, or corrup¬ 
tion, was to him a matter, if not of indifference, at least 
of no perplexing solicitude. 

Lord Castlereagh enlisted him willingly under his ban¬ 
ners, whilst the Marquis Cornwallis, pertinacious, yet 
plausible, cajoled men, whom the address of Fitzgibbon 
would have irritated, or the undisguised corruption of 
Castlereagh have disgusted or alarmed. 

III. Mr. Pitt had, by a private despatch to Lord Corn¬ 
wallis, desired that the measure should not be then pressed, 
unless he could be certain of a majority of fifty* The 
Chancellor, on learning the import of that despatch, ex¬ 
postulated in the strongest terms at so pusillanimous a 
decision. Hi° Lordship never knew the meaning of the 
word moderation in any public pursuit, and he cared not 
whether the Union were carried by a majority of one or 
one hundred. 

Lord Castlereagh, though practically unskilled, was 
intuitively artful, he was cool, whilst Lord Clare was in¬ 
flamed; and Lord Cornwallis, as a soldier, preferred stra- 
tagem to assault, and cautiously opened his trenches before 
every assailable member. Lord Castlereagh had reflected 
on an unfavourable circumstance, which he had the spirit 
and policy, as far as possible, to counteract. 

In the former session, the opposition had derived con- 

* The original despatch I saw and read; it was brought from Mr 
Cooke’s office secretly, and shown to me for a. particular purpose, and 
completely deceived me, but I could not obtain possession of it. I after¬ 
wards discovered that it had not been replaced in the office. It was sub¬ 
scribed by Mr. Pitt himself, and the name of Mr. Bankes occurred more 
than once in it; it did not compliment him. 

I have reason to believe that that despatch, with some other important 
papers, was afterwards accidentally dropped in College Green, and found 
by Doctor Kearaey, then Provost of Dublin University. He told me he 
nad found such papers, and promised to show them to me at a future day 
when the question was decided, but never did. Doctor Kearney was a 
grotesque figure, wonderfully short and droll, but a man of learning and 
of excellent character in every respect. He was afterwards mads 
Bishop of Ossory, he was an Anti-Unionist. 


424 


RTSE AND fALL 


siderable advantage from the spirit with which many of 
the party had inclined towards personal hostilities; this, 
in the ensuing session, was to be retaliated with interest; 
but many of Lord Castlereagh’s adherents, though engaged 
to vote, might not be so well inclined to-combat for a 
Union. He was naturally of high spirit, but this was not 
to be imparted to others, nor could he, prudently, exhibit 
it himself: he had the command of money, but not the 
creation of courage, and his cause was not calculated to 
generate that feeling; he therefore devised a plan, un¬ 
precedented, and which never could have been thought 
of in any other country than Ireland : it has not been the 
subject of any publication.* 

IY. He invited to dinner, at his house in Merrion Square, 
above twenty of his most staunch supporters, consisting of 
“ tried men,” and men of “ fighting families,” who might 
feel an individual pride in resenting every personality of 
the opposition, and in identifving their own honour with 
the cause of Government. T^his dinner was sumptuous ; 
the Champagne and Madeira had their due effect: no 
man could be more condescending than the noble host. 
After due preparation, the point was skilfully introduced 
by Sir John Blaquiere (since created Lord de Blaquiere,) 
who, of all men, was best calculated to promote a gentle¬ 
manly, convivial, fighting conspiracy; he was of the old 
school, an able diplomatist; and with the most polished 
manners and imposing address, he combined a friendly 
heart and decided spirit ; in polite conviviality he was 
unrivalled. 

Having sent round many loyal, mingled with joyous 
and exhilarating toasts, he stated, that he understood the 
opposition were disposed to personal unkindness, or even 
incivilities, towards His Majesty’s best friends, the Union¬ 
ists of Ireland. He was determined that no man should 
advance upon him by degrading the party he had adopted, 
and the measures he was pledged to support. A lull 
bumper proved his sincerity, the subject was discussed 

* It was communicated to me on the morning after its development, by 
a Member of Parliament, who was himself present and engaged in the 
enterprise, but-iy^ose real principles were decidedly averse to a Union, to 
which he had been induced to give his insincere support; but though ha 
had ample spirit, ne had too much good sense to quarrel on the subject 




1. Rari oi'Gmnard4. Marlay?Bishop of Waterford. 

2. John, BalL.KsqV 5. James Napper Tandy, Ext/’' 

3. James Fitzgeralds,Esq! d. Thomas Gold, Esq! 

* 7, Lord <le Ilia//lucres, K. D. 










OF THE IRISH NATIf N. 425 

anth great glee, and some of the company began to feel a 
seal for “ actual service” 

Lord Castlereagh alfected some coquetry, lest this idea 
should appear to have originated with him ; but, when he 
perceived that many had made up their minds to act even 
on the offensive, he calmly observed, that some mode 
should, at all events, be taken to secure the constant pre¬ 
sence of a sufficient number of the Government friends 
during the discussion, as subjects of the utmost import¬ 
ance were often totally lost for want of due attendance. 
Never did a sleight-of-hand man juggle more expertly. 

One of his Lordship’s prepared accessories (as if it 
were a new thought) proposed, humourously, to have a 
dinner for twenty or thirty every day, in one of the com¬ 
mittee chambers, where' they could be always at hand to 
make up a House, or for any emergency which should 
call for an unexpected reinforcement, during any part of 
the discussion. 

The novel idea of such a detachment of legislators was 
considered whimsical and humourous, and, of course, was 
not rejected. Wit and puns began to accompany the 
bottle ; Mr. Cooke, the Secretary, then, with significant 
nods and smirking inuendos, began to circulate his official 
towards to the company. The hints and the claret united 
to raise visions of the most gratifying nature, every man 
became in a prosperous state of official pregnancy: em¬ 
bryo judges, counsel to boards, envoys to foreign courts, 
compensation pensioners, placemen at chance, and com¬ 
missioners in assortments, all revelled in the anticipation 
of something substantial to be given to every Member 
who would do the Secretary the honour of accepting it. 

The scheme was unanimously adopted, Sir John Bla- 
quiere pleasantly observed that, at all events, they would 
be sure of a good cook at their dinners. After much wit, 
and many flashes of convivial bravery, the meeting sepa¬ 
rated after midnight, fully resolved to eat, drink, speak, 
and light for Lord Castlereagh. They so far kept their 
words, that the supporters of the Union indisputably 
showed more personal spirit than their opponents during 
the session. 

The house of Lord Charlemont was the place of meet¬ 
ing for the leading Members, opponents of the Union; tha 


m 


RISE AND FALL 


hereditary patriotism and honour of his son, the piesent 
Earl, pointed him out for general confidence. The next 
morning after Lord Castlereagh’s extraordinary coterie, 
a meeting was held at Charlemont House, to consider of 
the best system to be pursued in the House of Commons, 
to preserve the country from the impending ruin. 

No man in Ireland was more sincere than Lord Char¬ 
lemont. Lord Corry was by far more ardent, and Lord 
Leitrim more reserved, in their manners: the Commoners 
who attended, were alike honest and honourable : their 
objects were the same, but their temperature was un¬ 
equal ; and this meeting, with very few exceptions, was 
exactly the reverse of that of the Minister : patriotic, dis¬ 
interested, indedendent, and talented; but of a calm, 
gentle, and reflective character. 

Lord Castlereagh’s project against their courage was 
communicated to most of them ; and three distinct pro¬ 
posals (it would, perhaps, be improper to state them now) 
were made on that occasion. 

In the judgment of the proposer (who still retains the 
same opinion,) either of them, if adopted with spirit and 
adhered to with perseverance, would have defeated the 
Minister ; hut the great body of the meeting disapproved 
of them. Mr. Grattan, Lord Corry, Mr. John Ball, Co¬ 
lonel O’Donnell, Mr. O’Donnell, Mr. Egan, and some 
other gentlemen, zealously approved of by far the most 
decisive and spirited of the three expedients. The pro¬ 
poser well knew that no ordinary measures could be suc¬ 
cessful against the Government, and that by nothing but 
extremes could the Union be even suspended. The re¬ 
sidue of the meeting were, perhaps, more discreet ; and 
never was there seen a more decided predisposition to 
tranquillity, than in the majority of the distinguished 
men at that important assembly of Irish patriots. 

However, on the very first debate, in 1800, it appeared 
indisputably that Lord Castlereagh had diffused his own 
spirit into many of his adherents, and it became equally 
apparent, that it was not met with corresponding ardour 
by the opposition: to this, however, there was one memo¬ 
rable exception, to Mr. Grattan, alone was it reserved to 
support the spirit of his party, and to exemplify the gal¬ 
lantry he so strongly recommended to others. Routed by 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


427 


Mr Corry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he gave him 
no time for repentance ; and, considering the temper of 
the times, the propensity of the people, and the intense 
agitation upon the subject, it is marvellous, that this was 
the only instance of bloodshed during the contest. Mr. 
Grattan had shot him at day break, and the intelligence 
arrived whilst the House was yet sitting, its effect was 
singular. The project at Lord Castlereagh’s well war¬ 
ranted reprisals.* 

Y. Lord Corry, now Earl Belmore, was one of the most 
zealous, unflinching, and respectable of the Anti-Union¬ 
ists : a young nobleman of considerable talent and in¬ 
tegrity, he felt sorely the ruin which the flippant imbe¬ 
cility and short vision of Mr. Fortescue and Lord Colo 
had brought upon the country. He could not believe but 
that all those who had composed the majority against the 
Union, would, on recovering their recollection, see the ne¬ 
cessity of Mr. Ponsonby’s motion, and he determined, by 
a declaration of a similar purport, to give them an op¬ 
portunity of recovering from that error which they inad¬ 
vertantly fell into. 

In this, however, his Lordship was mistaken, the ex¬ 
treme impolicy of any pledge of eternal enmity to Union 
had, from the last day, been sedulously inculcated by th« 
friends of Government, upon every feeble-minded or 
wavering member; and Lord Cony’s motion, after an 
animated, long, and high-blooded debate, was definitively 
negatived by a considerable majority, and gave another 
handle to the Viceroy for ulterior efforts. 

Though the fate of Lord Corry’s motion was of a most 
distracting nature, it made but little impression on the 
confidence of the Anti-Unionists ; they could not bring 
themselves to suppose that a measure so vital, so con¬ 
clusive, and so generally detested, being once negatived, 
could again be proposed by the (defeated ministers) to 
the same Parliament. Thousands of addresses were 
presented, and resolutions passed against any further dis¬ 
cussion, and, for a time, rejoicing and confidence were 
the genera] subjects throughout the whole nation. 

* Two of the three expedients proposed, at first view, might apjieai 
extravagant, and were called impracticable ; one was certainly easy, all 
were loyal, and either of them would have been effective. 


428 


RISE AND FALL 


VI. The rejoicings in the metropolis exceeded all others. 
Dublin was more than any other place interested in 
defeating a measure which must, by the consequent 
emigration of the nobles and commoners, deprive it of 
every advantage which their splendour and luxury of 
society, their grand and numerous establishments, influx 
of strangers, and expenditure of great fortunes amongst 
its citizens, must confer upon a city which was not com¬ 
mercial. 

These ebullitions of joy and gratitude to their deli¬ 
verers, and hostility to the Unionists, were excessive. 
Lord Castlereagh was hung in effigy and burnt facing 
the door of the author, in Merrion Square; but no dis¬ 
turbance occurred that could possibly justify military ex¬ 
ecution. The violent spirit, however, of the Chancellor, 
anticipated some attack on his partisans, which conscious 
culpability, a heated imagination, and his own terrors had 
raised up as a spectre before him, and led him to counte¬ 
nance one of the most unjustifiable. On the universality 
of the rejoicings and rather boisterous demonstrations 
of joy, at the defeat of Government, his alarmed Lord- 
ship under colour of taking precautions to preserve the 
peace, called a Privy Council to the Castle, which might 
screen himself undei the authority of that body, from the 
individual imputation of those measures of severity, 
which he determined to put in force against the rejoicing 
population, should any feasible opportunity be given for 
the interference of the military. This is a matter of fact, 
but care was taken that any order which might be given, 
or the proximate authority through which any wanton 
violence might be committed amongst the people, should 
not be made public. 

About nine at night, a party of the military stationed 
in the old Custom House, near Essex Bridge, silently sal¬ 
lied out with trailed arms, without any civil magistrate, 
and only a serjeant to command them ; on arriving at 
Capel-street the populace were in the act of violently 
huzzaing for their friends, and, of course, with equal 
vehemence execrating their enemies; but no riot act was 
read, no magistrate appeared, and no disturbance cr 
tumult existed to warrant military interference. 

The soldiers, however, having taken a position a shop 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


429 


way down the street, without being in any way assailed, 
fired a volley of balls amongst the people ; of course a 
few were killed and some wounded ; amongst the former 
were a woman and a boy, a man fell dead at the feet of 
Mr. P. Hamilton, the King’s Proctor of the Admiralty, 
who, as a mere spectator, was viewing the illumination. 
This is only mentioned to evince the violent spirit which 
guided the Government of that day, and the tyrannic 
means which were resorted to, to terrify the people from 
testifying their zeal at their deliverance, as they fancied, 
from the proposed annexation. 

This outrage was made a subject of complaint to Par¬ 
liament, but so well were the actors concealed, that nothing 
could be developed to lead to punishment. The rejoicings 
however, were neither ended nor checked by military 
execution, and, at the conclusion of the session, the 
same spirit of hostility to the Union remained not only 
as unsubdued, but still more decided than at its com¬ 
mencement. 

A most remarkable proof of the shameless lengths, a* 
that period, resorted to by the Yiceroy and Minister to 
gain over a sufficient number of the Anti-Unionists against 
the ensuing sessions, occurred immediately after the close 
of the session of 1799. 

VII. A public dinner of all the patriotic members was 
had in Dublin to commemorate the rescue of their country 
from so imminent a danger. One hundred and ten mem¬ 
bers of Parliament sat down to that splendid and trium¬ 
phant entertainment. 

Never was a more cordial, happy assemblage of men 
of rank, consideration, and of proven integrity, collected 
in one chamber, than upon that remarkable occasion. 
Every man’s tried and avowed principles were supposed 
to be untaintable, and pledged to his own honour and 
his country’s safety; and amongst others, Mr. Handcock, 
member for Athlone, appeared to be conspicuous ; he 
spoke strongly, gave numerous Anti-Union toasts, vowed 
his eternal hostility to so infamous a measure, pledged 
himself to God and man to resist it to extremities, and, 
to finish and record his sentiments, he had composed an 
Anti-Union song of many stanzas, which he sung himself 
with a general chorus, to celebrate the spirit, the cause, 


480 


RISE AND FALL 


arid the patriotism of the meeting; this was encored more 
than once by the company, and he withdrew towards day 
with the reputation of being in 1799, the most pure, un¬ 
flinching opponent of the measure he so cordially resisted. 

From that day, Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh 
wisely marked him out as one of their opponents who 
should be gained over on any terms. 

Human nature is the same in every part of the globe; 
wherever ambition, vanity or avarice take root, and become 
ruling passions, their vegetation may be checked for a 
day, but the root is perennial: and Ireland had no reason 
to suppose nature would favour her by an unqualified 
exemption of her representatives from those alluring vices 
which she had so profusely lavished on and exemplified 
in the British Parliament, that at length it became so poli 
tically vicious and intolerably corrupt, that the remedy of 
a democratic reform, in the Commons, or more properly, 
a recurrence to the theory of the constitution, was found 
indispensable to secure the remains of that constitution 
against the overwhelming influence of the Peers and the 
oligarchy which menaced its annihilation. 

It was, therefore, the very summit of British egotism 
and injustice, to pretend that the corrupt state of the Irish 
Parliament formed a leading and just ground for alto¬ 
gether extinguishing its existence, though it appears in 
full proof, that in proportion to their respective numbers, 
the British Commons at the period of the Irish Union 
contained one fourth more corrupt, corruptible, and in¬ 
fluenced members than that of Ireland at any period , and 
that the British Minister on the regency question, intimi¬ 
dated, influenced, or corrupted the British House of 
Commons, when that of Ireland was found pure enough 
to resist all his efforts, and support the heir apparent. 

The English people, therefore, from a recurrence to 
unequivocal facts, and from a sad experience of the infinite 
ease with which any minister corrupted and controlled at 
pleasure their own Parliament, will scarcely believe that 
all the arts, the money, the titles, the offices, the bribes 
their minister could bestow, all the influence he possessed, 
all the patronage he could grant, all the promises he could 
make, all the threats he could use, all the terrors he could 
excite, ail the deprivations he could inflict, could seduce 


05* THE IRISH NATION. 


431 


or warp away scarcely more than a half of the members 
of the Irish Commons, from their duty to their country 
and that on the question of annexation by union, his 
utmost efforts could not influence more than eight above 
a moiety of their number; yet, with only 158 out of 300. 
which in England would be considered a defeat, he per 
severed and effected the extinguishment of the legislature, 
a majority, which, on any important question would have 
cashiered a British minister. Yet. such was the fact in 
Ireland; and the division of the 5th and 6th February, 
1800, on the Union, will remain an eternal record of the 
unrivalled incorruptible purity of 115 members of that 
Parliament. This observation is matter of absolute fact; 
it may be proper to give it even by anticipation, as an 
illustration, and a fact of which the English people seem 
to have been totally ignorant. For her own sake probably 
England will soon recur to Irish history, where she will 
find her long sufferings, and more unshaken loyalty to her 
English kings than in any other country or portion of her 
people.* 

This not misplaced digression will be considered as a 
prelude to the sequel of Mr. Ilandcock, being a sample 
and a warning to England of what might be also the fate 
of their own representation. 

The blandishments of the crafty Viceroy, were now 
unsparingly lavished on Mr. Handcock; simple money 
would not do, they endeavoured to persuade him that his 
principles were disloyal, his song was sedition, and that 
further opposition might end in treason ; still he held out 
until title was added to the bribe, his own conscience was 
not strong enough to resist the charge, the vanity of his 
family lusted for nobility. He wavered, but he yielded; 
his vows, his declaration, his song, all vanished before 
vanity, and the year 1800 saw Mr. Handcock of Athlone 
Lord Castlemaine. But the reputation of a renegade was 
embodied with the honours of his family, and pecuniary 
compensation for a Parliamentary return could do no 
mischief to his public reputation; he became a strong 
supporter of the Union. 

* Wde ante., page 225 


432 


RISE AND FALK* 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

Felons in the gaols induced, by promise of pardon, to sign petitions ia 
favour of the Union—Every means of corruption resorted to by the 
Viceroy—Viceroy doubtful of future support—Resorted to Place Bill 
—Unparalleled measure of public bribery avowed by Lord Castle- 
reagli—Bill to raise <£ 1,500,000, for bribes—Grave reflection on the 
King’s assenting to an avowed act of corruption—A few bribes called 
Compensation—The British Parliament had anticipated the proposal— 
Lord Cornwallis’s speech peculiarly artful—Lord Loftus moves the 
address—Lord Castlereagh’s reason—Sir Laurence Parson’s important 
motion and speech—Debate continued all night—Lord Castlereagh’s 
plan put into execution—Mr. Bushe—Mr. Plunket—Mr. St. George 
Daly—His character—His attack on Mr. Bushe—On Mr. Plunket— 
Replied to bv Mr. Barrington—Mr. Peter Burrows—Affecting appear¬ 
ance of Mr. Grattan in the House of Commons—Returned for Wicklow 
the preceding evening—The impediment laid by Government—Re¬ 
turned at midnight—Entered the house at seven in the morning in & 
debilitated state—Description of his entry—Powerful sensation caused 
by his splendid oration—Mr. Corry induced to reply—No effect on the 
House—The three Bagwells seceded from Government—Lord Ormond 
changed to the minister—Mr. Arthur Browne’s tergiversation'—Divi¬ 
sion—Mr. Foster’s speech—Important incident—Bad conduct of the 
clergy—Very singular circumstance—Mr. Annesley chairman of the 
committee on the Union—Bishop of Clogher returns Mr. Annesley to 
Parliament—Messrs. Ball and King petition—Succeed—Mr. Annesley 
declared not duly elected—Left the chair and quitted the House—Not 
a legal chairman—Shameful and palpable act of corruption by Sir 
William Gladowe Newcomen—Bribe proved—Bribery of Mr. Knox 
and Mr. Crowe—Their speeches against the Union—The Earl of 
Belvidere most palpably bribed to change sides—His resolutions—Mr 
Knox and Mr. Crowe bribed—Mr. Usher bribed to secrecy—The cor¬ 
rupt agreement of Mr. Crowe and Mr. Knox to vacate their seats for 
Union members, in presence of Mr. LTsher, a Parson—The terms 
with Lord Castlereagh—Mr. Charles Ball’s affecting conduct—The 
Anti-Union members, despairing, withdraw in a body—Last sitting of 
the Irish Parliament—The House surrounded by military—Most 
affecting scene—Bad consequences to England—Unhappiness of the 
Speaker—Ireland extinguished. 

L- It is not possible to comprise in a single volume a 
tithe of the means and measures of every description, 
resorted to by the Viceroy and Secretary, not only ta 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


4^v5 


seduce the members, but to procure addresses favourable 
to their views, from every or any rank or description of 
people, from the first rank to the very lowest order; 
beggars, cottagers, tradesmen, every individual who could 
be influenced, were tempted to put their names or marks 
to addresses, not one word of which they understood the 
intent, still less the ruinous result of. Even public 
instances were adduced, some mentioned in Parliament, 
and not denied, of felons in the gaols purchasing pardon, 
or transmutation, by signatures, or by forging names, to 
Union eulogimns. 

English generals, who, at a moment when martial law 
existed, or a recollection of its execution was still fresh in 
every memory, could not fail to have their own influence 
over proclaimed districts and bleeding peasantry; of 
course, their success in procuring addresses to Parliament, 
was not limited either by their power, their disposition, or 
their instructions. 

The Anti-Union addresses, innumerable and fervid, in 
their very nature voluntary, and the signatures of high 
consideration, were stigmatized by the title of seditious and 
disloyal; whilst those of the compelled, the bribed, and 
the culprit were printed and circulated by every means 
that the treasury, or the influence of the Government, 
could effect. 

Mr. Darby, High Sheriff of King ; s County, and Major 
Rogers of the artillery, had gone so far as to place two 
six-pounders towards the doors of the Court House, where 
the gentlemen and freeholders of the county were assem¬ 
bling to address as Anti-Unionists; and it is not to be 
wondered at, that the dread of grape shot not only stopped 
those, bui numerous meetings for similar purposes; yet 
this was one of the means taken to prevent the expression 
of public meetings without, and formed a proper com¬ 
parison for the measures resorted to, within the walls cf 
Parliament. 

As this volume cannot detail the innumerable circum 
stances and episodes which a perfect history of those times 
wou.tl embody, it may be enough to say, that if the 
English readers of this work will imagine any act that at: 
indefatigable, and, on this subject, the most corrupt ol 
Governments could by possibility resort to, to carry a. 


134 


RISE AND PALL 


measure they had determined on; such readers cannot 
imagine acts more illegal, unconstitutional, and corrupt, 
than those of the Yiceroy of Ireland, his secretary and 
under-secretary, employed, from the close of the session 
of 1799 to that of 1800; in the last of the Irish Parlia¬ 
ments every thing therefore is passed over, or but slightly 
touched on, till the opening of the last session. 

11. Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh, having made 
good progress during the recess, now discarded all secrecy 
and reserve. To recite the various acts of simple metallic 
corruption which were practised without any reserve, 
during the summer of 1799, are too numerous for this 
volume. It will be sufficient to describe the proceedings, 
without particularizing the individuals. Many of the 
Peers, and several of the Commoners had the patronage 
of boroughs, trie control of which was essential to the 
success of the Minister’s project. These patrons Lord 
Castlereagh assailed by every means which his power and 
situation afforded. Lord Cornwallis was the remote, Lord 
Castlereagh the intermediate, and Mr. Secretary Cooke, 
the immediate agents on many of these bargains. Lord 
Shannon, The Marquis of Ely, and several other Peers 
commanding votes, after much coquetry, had been secured 
during the first session ; but the defeat of Government 
rendered their future support uncertain. The parlia¬ 
mentary patrons had breathing time after the preceding 
session, and began to tremble for their patronage and 
importance ; and some desperate step became necessary 
to Government to insure a continuance of the support of 
these personages. This object gave rise to a measure 
which the British nation will scarcely believe possible, 
its enormity is without parallel. 

Lord CastlereaglYs first object was to introduce into 
the House, by means of the Place Bill, a sufficient num¬ 
ber of dependents to balance all opposition. He then 
boldly announced his intention to turn the scale, by bribes 
to all who would accept them, under the name of compen¬ 
sation for the loss of patronage and interest. He pub¬ 
licly declared, first , that every nobleman who returned 
members to Parliament should be paid, in cash 15,000/. 
tor every member so returned; secondly , that every 
member who had purchased a seat in Parliament should 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


435 


have his purchase-money repaid to him, by the Treasury 
of Ireland ; thirdly , that all members of Parliament, or 
others, who were losers by a Union, should be fully re¬ 
compensed for their losses, and that 1,500,000/. should be 
devoted to this service: in other terms, all who support¬ 
ed his measure were, under some pretence or other, tc 
share in this bank of corruption. 

A declaration so flagitious and treasonable was never 
publicly made in any country; but it had a powerful 
effect in his favour; and, before the meeting of Palia- 
ment, he had secured a small majoriy, (as heretofore 
mentioned,) of eight above a moiety of the members, and 
ne courageously persisted. 

After the debate on the Union in 1800, he performed 
his promise, and brought in a Bill to raise one million 
and a half of money upon the Irish people, nominally to 
compensate, but really to bribe their representatives, for 
betraying their honour and selling their country. This 
Bill was but feebly resisted ; the divisions of January 
and February (1800) had reduced the success of the 
Government to a certainty, and all further opposition 
was abandoned. It was unimportant to Lord Castle- 
reagh, who received the plunder of the nation; the taxes 
were levied, and a vicious partiality was effected in the 
partition. 

The assent to the Bill by his Majesty, as King of Ire¬ 
land, gives rise to perhaps the most grave consideration 
suggested in these Memoirs. 

A king, bound by the principles of the British Consti¬ 
tution, giving his sacred and voluntary fiat to a Bill to 
levy taxes for the compensation of members of Parlia¬ 
ment, for their loss of the opportunities of selling what it 
was criminal to sell or purchase, could scarcely be be¬ 
lieved by the British people. 

It may be curious to consider how the English would 
endure the proposal of such a measure in their own 
country, a British Premier who should advise his Majesty 
to give his assent to such a statute, would experience the 
utmost punishment that the severest law of England 
could inflict for that enormity. Nor should the Irish 
people be blamed for refusing to acquiesce in a measure 
which was carried in direct v l olation of the law, and in- 


436 


RISE AND FALL 


fraction of the statutes against bribery and corruption, 
and in defiance of every precept moral and political. 

There were times when Mr. Pitt would have lost his 
head for a tithe of his Government in Ireland : Stafford 
was an angel compared to that celebrated statesman. 

When the compensation statute had received the royal 
assent, the Viceroy appointed four commissioners to carry 
its provisions into execution. Three were Members of 
Parliament, whose salaries of 1200Z. a year each (with 
probable advantages) were a tolerable consideration for 
their former services. The Honourable Mr. Armesley, 
Secretary Hamilton, and Dr. Duig^nan, were the princi¬ 
pal commissioners of that extraordinary distribution. 

It is however to be lamented, that the records of the 
proceedings have been unaccountably disposed of. A 
voluminous copy of claims, accepted and rejected, was 
published, and partially circulated ; but the great and 
important grants, the private pensions, and occult com¬ 
pensations, have never been made public, further than 
by those w'ho received them.* It is known that 

<£ s. d 

Lord Shannon received for his patronage in the 

Commons . ... 45,000 0 0 

The Marquis of Ely .... . 45,000 0 0 

Lord Clanmorris, besides a Peerage . 23,000 0 0 

Lord Belvidere, besides his douceur 15,000 0 0 

Sir Hercules Langrishe . . ... 15,000 0 0 

IH. At length, the Parliament being sufficiently ar 
langed to give Government a reasonable assurance of 
success, Lord Castlereagh determined to feel the pulse of 
the House of Commons distinctly before he proposed the 
measure of the Union. 

* The extraordinary claims for compensation, and some extraordinary 
grants by the Commissioners, would, on any other occasion, be a fit sub¬ 
ject for ridicule. But the application of one million and a half sterling , 
to purposes so public and so vile, renders it an eternal blot on the Gov¬ 
ernment in Treland, and on the minister and cabinet of England for per¬ 
mitting the King to give the royal assent to so indisputably corrupt a 
statute. 

Amongst other curious claims for Union Compensations, in the Report 
printed and circulated, appear, one from the Lord Lieutenant’s rat¬ 
catcher at the Castle, for decrease of employment; another from the 
necessary woman of the Privy Council of England, for increased trouble 
hi her department; with numerous others of the same quality 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


43T 


The British Parliament had already framed the terms 
nn which the proposition was to be founded, giving to its 
own project the complexion of a favour, and triumphing 
by anticipation over the independence of Ireland. 

This was a masterpiece of arrogance ; and it was de¬ 
termined to try the feelings of the Commons by a negative 
measure, before the insulting one should be substantially 
propounded to them. The 15th day of January, 1800 (the 
last session of the Irish Parliament,) gave rise to a debate 
of the most acrimonious nature, and of great importance. 

The speech of Lord Cornwallis from the throne was 
expected to avow candidly the determination of the Min¬ 
ister to propose, and if possible achieve, a Legislative 
Union. Every man came prepared to hear that proposal, 
but a more crafty course was taken by the Secretary. 

To the surprise of the Anti-Unionists, the Viceroy’s 
speech did not even hint at the measure, the suggestion 
of a Union was sedulously avoided. Lord Viscount Loitus 
(now Marquis of Ely)* moved the address, which was as 
vague as the speech was empty. Lord Loftus was another 
of those young noblemen who were emitted by their con¬ 
nections to mark their politics : but neither the cause nor 
his Lordship’s oration conferred any honour on the au¬ 
thor; and his speech would have answered any other 
subject just as well as that upon which it was uttered. 

There was not a point in the Viceroy’s speech intended 
to be debated. Lord Castlereagh, having judiciously col¬ 
lected his flock, was better enabled to decide on numbers 
and to count with sufficient certainty on the result of his 
labours since the preceeding session, without any hasty or 
premature disclosure of his definitive measure. 

This negative and insidious mode of proceeding, how¬ 
ever, could not be permitted by the opposition ; and Sir 
Laurence Parsons, after one of the most able and luminous 
speeches he had ever uttered, moved an amendment, de¬ 
claratory of the resolution of Parliament to preserve the 
Constitution as established in 1782, and to support the 
freedom and independence of the nation. This motion 

* His Lordship, who took so prominent and invidious a part m tha 
transaction, had been christened Lee Boo by the humourous party of the 
House, and was only selected to show the Commons that his lather had 
been purchased. 

37* 


438 


RISE AND FALL 


vas the touch-si one of the parties ; the attjndance of 
he Unionists in the House was compulsory, that of its 
opponents optional; and on counting the members, sixty- 
six (about a fifth of the whole) were absent, a most fa¬ 
vourable circumstance for the Minister. Every mind was 
at its stretch, every talent was in its vigour : it was a 
momentous trial; and never was so general and so deep 
a sensation felt in any country. Numerous British no¬ 
blemen and commoners were present at that and the suc¬ 
ceeding debate, and they expressed opinions of Irish elo¬ 
quence which they had never before conceived, nor ever 
after had an opportunity of appreciating. Everyman on 
that night seemed to be inspired by the subject. Speeches 
more replete with talent and energy, on both sides, never 
were heard in the Irish Senate, it was a vital subject. 
The sublime, the eloquent, the figurative orator, the plain, 
the connected, the metaphysical reasoner, the classical, the 
learned, and the solemn declaimer, in a succession of 
speeches so full of energy and enthusiasm, so interesting 
in their nature, so important in their consequence, created 
a variety of sensations even in the bosom of a stranger, 
and could scarcely fail of exciting some sympathy with a 
nation which was doomed to close for ever that school of 
eloquence which had so long given character and celebrity 
to Irish talent. 

The debate proceeded with increasing heat and interest 
till past ten o’clock the ensuing morning (16th.) Many 
members on both sides signalized themselves to an extent 
that never could have been expected. The result of the 
convivial resolution at Lord Castlereagh’s house, already 
mentioned, was actually exemplified and clearly discern¬ 
ible ; an unexampled zeal, an uncongenial energy, an 
uncalled for rancour, and an unusual animation broke out 
from several supporters of Government, to an extent 
which none but those who had known the system Lord 
Castlereagh had skilfully suggested to his followers, could 
in any way account for. This excess of ardour gave to 
this debate not only a new and extraordinary variety of 
language, but an acrimony of invective, and an absence 
of all moderation, never before so immoderately practised. 

This violence was in unison with the pugnacious project 
of anticipating the Anti-IJnionists in offensive operation*, 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


439 


some remarkable instances of that project were actually 
put into practice, and are not unworthy of being recorded 
ill the Irish chronicles. 

Mr. Bushe, the late Chief Justice of Iieland, was as 
nearly devoid of private and public enemies as any man. 
Endowed with superior talents, he had met with a cor¬ 
responding success in an ambitious profession and in a 
jealous country. His eloquence was of the purest kind ; 
but the more delicate the edge, the deeper cuts the irony, 
and his rebukes were of that description; and when em¬ 
bellished by his ridicule, coarse minds might bear them, 
but the more sensitive ones could not. Mr. Plunket’s 
satire was of a different nature, his weapon cut in every 
direction, and when once unsheathed, little quarter could 
be expected. His satire was ; at times, of that corroding 
yet witty nature, that no patience could endure; yet, on 
this debate, both these gentlemen were assailed with in¬ 
trepidity by a person whose talents were despised, and 
the price of whose seduction glared in an appointment to 
the highest office at the Irish bar—a barrister without 
professional practice or experience, and who was not con¬ 
sidered susceptible of black letter. As a statesman he 
had no capacity, and as an orator he was below even 
mediocrity, from an embarrassed pronunciation which 
seemed to render any attempt at elocution a most hope¬ 
less experiment. Such was Mr. St. George Daly, ap¬ 
pointed Prime Serjeant of Ireland in the place of Mr. 
Fitzgerald, raised over the heads of the Attorney and 
Solicitor General, and, from a simple briefless advocate 
elevated to the very highest rank of a talented and learned 
profession. Mr. Daly, however, was a gentleman of 
excellent family, and common sense, and, what was for¬ 
merly highly esteemed in Ireland, of a “fightingfamily.” 
He was the brother of Mr. Dennis Daly, of so much 
talent, and of so much reputation amongst the patriots of 
eighty-two. He was proud enough for his pretensions, 
and sufficiently conceited for his capacity: and a private 
gentleman he would have remained, had not Lord Castle- 
reagh and the Union placed him in public situations 
where he had himself too much sense not to feel that ht 
certainly was over-elevated. This gentleman is particu¬ 
larly noticed, as, on this night, he, in some pcints, ovei 


440 


RISE AND FALL 


came the public opinion of his incapacity, and he sur¬ 
prised the House by one of the most clever and severe 
philippics which had been pronounced during the discus¬ 
sions upon the Union, more remarkable from being 
directed against two of the most pure and formidable 
orators in the country. 

The contempt with which Mr. Daly conceived his ca¬ 
pacity was viewed by the superior members of his pro¬ 
fession. the inaptitude he himself felt for the ostensible 
situation he was placed in, the cutting sarcasms liberally 
lavished on his inexperience and infirmity, in lampoons 
and pamphlets, combined to excite an extraordinary 
exertion to extricate himself from the humiliating taunts 
that he had been so long experiencing. Mr. Daly’s attack 
on Mr. Bushe was of a clover description, and had Mr. 
Bushe had one vulnerable point, his assailant might have 
prevailed. He next attacked Mr. Plunket, who sat im¬ 
mediately before him; but the materials of his vocabulary 
had been nearly exhausted ; however, he was making 
some progress, when the keen visage of Mr. Plunket wao 
seen to assume a curled sneer, which, like a legion offen¬ 
sive and defensive, was prepared for any enemy. No 
speech could equal his glance of contempt and ridicule, 
Mr. Daly received it like an arrow, it pierced him, he 
faltered like a wounded man, his vocal infirmity became 
more manifest, and after an embarrassed pause, he yielded, 
changed his ground, and attacked by wholesale every 
member of his own profession who had opposed a Union, 
and termed them a disaffected and dangerous faction. 
Here again he received a reply not calculated to please 
him, and at length he concluded one of the most remark¬ 
able speeches, because one of the most unexpected, that 
had been made during the discussion. Every member 
who had been in the habit of addressing the House, new 
ones who had never spoken, on that night made warm, 
and several of them eloquent, orations. 

Mr. Peter Burrows, a veteran advocate for the rights 
of Ireland, wherever and whenever he had the power of 
declaring himself, on this night made an able effort to 
uphold his principles. He was a gentleman of the bar 
who had many friends, and justly; nothing could be more 
ungracious than the manner, nothing much better than 


OV THE IRISH NATION. 


441 


the matter, of his orations. His mind had ever been too 
independent to cringe, and his opinions too intractable for 
an arbitrary minister; on this night he formed a noble 
and distinguished contrast to those of his own profession, 
who had sold themselves and the representation for a mess 
of pottage. 

The House had nearly exhausted itself and the subject; 
when, about seven o’clock in the morning, an incident 
the most affecting and unexpected, occurred, and which is 
too precious a relic of Irish Parliamentary chronicles, not 
to he recorded. 

IV. The animating presence of Mr. Grattan on this 
first night of the d Q bate was considered of the utmost 
importance to the patriots, it was once more raising the 
standard of liberty in Parliament. He had achieved the 
independence of his country in 1782, and was the champion 
best calculated at this crisis to defend it, a union of spirit, 
of talent, and of honesty, gave him an influence above ah 
his contemporaries. He had been ungratefully defamed 
by the people he had liberated, and taking the calumny 
to heart, his spirit had sunk within him, his health had 
declined, and he had most unwisely seceded in disgust 
from Parliament, at the very moment when he was most 
required to defend both himself and his country. He 
seemed fast approaching to the termination of all earthly 
objects, when he was induced once more to shed his in¬ 
fluence over the political crisis. 

At that time Mr. Tighe returned the members for thf- 
close borough of Wicklow, and a vacancy having occurred, 
it was tendered to Mr. Grattan, who would willingly have 
declined it but for the importunities of his friends. 

The Lord Lieutenant and Lord Castlereagh, justly 
appreciating the effect his presence might have on the 
first debate, had withheld the writ of election till the last 
moment the law allowed, and till they conceived it might 
he too late to return Mr. Grattan in time for the discus¬ 
sion. It was not until the day of the meeting of Parliament 
that the writ was delivered to the returning officer. By 
extraordinary exertions, and perhaps by following the 
example of government in overstraining the law, the elec¬ 
tion was held immediately on the arrival of the writ, a 
sufficient number of voters were collected to return Mi, 


RISE AND FALL 


Grattan before midnight. By one o’clock the return was 
on its road to Dublin; it arrived by five; a party of Mr. 
Grattan’s friends repaired to the private house of the pro¬ 
per officer, and making him get out of bed, compelled 
him to present the writ to Parliament before seven in the 
morning, when the House was in warm debate on the 
Union. A whisper ran through every party that Mr. 
Grattan was elected, and would immediately take his 
seat. The Ministerialists smiled with incredulous deri¬ 
sion, and the opposition thought the news too good to 
be true; 

Mr. Egan was speaking strongly against the measure, 
when Mr. George Ponsonby and Mr. Arthur Moore (now 
Judge of the Common Pleas) walked out, and immediately 
returned, leading, or rather helping, Mr. Grattan, in a 
state of total feebleness and debility. The effect was 
electric. Mr. Grattan’s illness and deep chagrin had re¬ 
duced a form, never symmetrical, and a visage at all times 
thin, nearly to the appearance of a spectre. As he feebly 
tottered into the House, every member simultaneously 
rose from his seat. He moved slowly to the table; his 
languid countenance seemed to revive as he took those 
oaths that restored him to his pre-eminent station; the 
smile of inward satisfaction obviously illuminated his 
features, and reanimation and energy seemed to kindle by 
the labour of his mind. The House was silent, Mr. Egan 
did not resume his speech, Mr. Grattan, almost breathless, 
as if by instinct, attempted to rise, but was unable to 
stand, he paused and with difficulty requested permission 
of the House to deliver his sentiments without moving 
from his seat. This was acceded to by acclamation, and 
he who had left his bed of sickness to record, as he thought, 
his last words in the Parliament of his country, kindled 
gradually till his language glowed with an energy and 
feeling which he had seldom surpassed. After nearly two 
hours of the most powerful eloquence, he concluded with 
in undiminished vigour, miraculous to those who were 
unacquainted with his intellect. 

Never did a speech make a more affecting impression, 
but it came too late. Fate had decreed the fall of Ireland, 
and her patriot came only to witness her overthrow. For 
two hours he recapitulated all the pledges that England 



/ Duhr of Leinstei ■/ Henry GmUon 
Lord ( hu e L. Hussey Hurrjh 

Henry Flood . 6. L ord Hid Hansen 

7. Lord Charlemont-. 
























OP THE IRISH NATION. 


443 


had made and had broken, he went through the great 
events from 1780 to 1800, proved the more than treachery 
winch had been practised towards the Irish people. He 
had concluded, and the question was loudly called for. 
when Lord Castlereagh was perceived earnestly to whisper 
to Mr. Corry, they for an instant looked round the House, 
whispered again, Mr. Corry nodded assent, and, amidst 
the cries of question, he began a speech, which, as far as 
it regarded Mr. Grattan, few persons in the House could 
have prevailed upon themselves to utter. Lord Castle¬ 
reagh was not clear what impression Mr. Grattan’s speech 
might have made upon a few hesitating members: he had, 
in the course of the debate, moved the question of adjourn¬ 
ment ; he did not like to meet Sir Laurence Parsons on 
his motion, and Mr. Corry commenced certainly an able, 
out, towards Mr. Grattan an ungenerous and an unfeeling 
personal assault, it was useless, it was like an act of a 
cruel disposition, and he knew it could not be replied to. 
At length the impatience of the House rendered a divi¬ 
sion necessary, and in half an hour the fate of Ireland 
was decided. The numbers were— 

For an Adjournment) Lord Castlereagh had . . 138 

For the Amendment . 96 

Majority . . 42* 


* One of the most unexpected and flagitious acts of public corruption 
was that of Mr. Arthur brown, member for the University of Dublin. 
He was by birth an American, of most gentlemanly manners, excellent 
character, and very considerable talents. He had by his learning become 
a senior fellow of the University, and was the law professor. From 
his ertrence into Parliament he had been a steady, zealous, and able 
supp' rter of the rights of Ireland, he had never deviated; he would 
accept no office; he had attached himself to Mr. Ponsonby, and was 
supj^osed lobe one oi the truest and most unassailable supporters of Ire¬ 
land 

la the session of 1799 he had taken a most unequivocal, decisive, 
and ardent part against tn-* and had spoken against it as a crime, 

End as the ruin of the country: ne was believed to be incorruptible. On 
this night he rose, but crest-fallen and abashed at his own tergiversation ; 
he recanted every word he had ever uttered, deserted from the country, 
nupported the Union, accepted a bribe from the Minister, was afterwards 
placed in office, but shame haunted him, hated himself: an aunabieman 
fell a victim to corruption. He rankled, and pined, and died of a wretch- 
id mind and a broken constitution 


444 


WISE AND PALL 


This decision, undoubtedly, gave a death wound to the 
Irish nation. Many, however, still fostered the hope of 
success in the opposition; and Lord Castlereagh did not 
one moment relax his efforts to bribe, to seduce, and 
terrify his opponents. 

The Anti-Unionists, also, lost no opportunity of im¬ 
proving their minority; and the next division proved that 
they had not. The adjournment was to the 5th day of 
February; the Union propositions, as passed by the 
British Parliament, were, after a long speech, laid before 
tiie House of Commons by Lord Castlereagh : on that 
day Mr Bagwell, of Tipperary County, seceded from 
Government, the present Marquis of Ormond had also 
divided from it; and the minority appeared to have re¬ 
ceived numerous acquisitions. Mr. Saurin, Mr. Peter 
Burrows, and other eminent gentlemen of the bar, now 
appeared to make the last effort to rescue their country. 

Y. Lord Castlereagh, upheld by his last majority, now 
kept no bounds in his assertions and in his arrogance ; 
and after a debate of the entire night, at eleven the en 
suing morning the division took place. It appeared that 
the Anti-Unionists had gained ground since the former 
session, and that there existed 115 Members of the Irish 
Parliament, whom neither promotion, nor office, nor fear 
nor reward, nor ambition, could procure to vote against 
the independence of their country, though nations fall 
that opposition will remain immortal. 

Lord Castlereagh’s motion was artful in the extreme 
he did not move expressly for any adoption of the pro¬ 
positions, but that they should be printed and circulated, 
with a view to their ultimate adoption. 

This was opposed as a virtual acceptation of the sub¬ 
ject ; on this point the issue was joined, and the Irish nation 
Was. on that night, laid prostrate. The division was— 


Number of Members .... 


300 

For Lord Castiereagh’s Motion 


158 

Against it. 


. 115 

Oi Members present, majority 


43 

Absent 


17 


By this division, it appears that the Government had 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


445 


a majority of the House of only eight , by their utmost 
efforts, 27 were absent, of whom every man refused to 
vote for a Union, but did not vote at all, being kept away 
by different causes ; and of consequence eight above a 
inoiety carried the Union ; and of the 158 who voted for 
it in 1800, 28 were notoriously bribed or influenced cor¬ 
ruptly. 

Although this was ominous to the ultimate fate of the 
nation, the contest still proceeded with unremitting ar¬ 
dour ; numerous debates and numerous divisions took 
place before the final catastrophe, in numbers, Govern¬ 
ment made no progress, and never could or did obtain a 
majority of fifty on the principle of a Union. 

The details of the subsequent proceedings are not 
within the range of this desultory memoir. The speech 
of Mr. Foster, the Speaker, against the measure occupied 
four hours : a deference to his opinion, and a respect for 
his true patriotism, caused a dead silence throughout the 
entire of his oration, on any other occasion, theit oration 
would have been overwhelming ; but the question was, 
in fact, decided before he had, in the committee, any op¬ 
portunity of declaring his opinion ; and his speech was 
little more than recording his sentiments. 

Some very serious facts occurred during the progress 
of the discussion which may be worth reciting. The 
House was surrounded by military, under pretence of 
keeping the peace, which was not in danger, but, in fact, 
to excite terror ; Lord Castlereagh also threatened to re¬ 
move the Parliament to Cork, if its proceedings were in¬ 
terrupted. But, unfortunately, the Anti-Unionists had no 
efficient organization, no decided leader ; scattered and 
desponding, they* did not excite sufficient external exer- 

* The fulsome address from the Catholic clergy am Bishop Lanigan 
trorn Kilkenny to Marquis Cornwallis, in favour of the Union, for¬ 
tunately rendered the addresses perfectly ridiculous. One of his excel 
lency’s eyes, by some natural defect, appeared considerably diminished 
and, like the pendulum of a clock, was generally in a state of motion 
The Right Reverend Bishop and clergy having never before seen the 
Marquis, unfortunately commenced their address with the most mal 
a propus exordium of “ your excellency has al vays kept a steady eye 
on the interests of Ireland.” The address was presented at Levee. 
His excellency however was graciously pleased not to return any answei 
to that part of their compliment. Mr. Curran, on seeing the address 

38 


446 


RISE AND FALL 


tion : destiny seemed to resign the nation to its fate ; then 
own brethren forsook them. The Bishops Troy, Lanigan 
and others, deluded by the Viceroy, sold their country, and 
basely betrayed their flocks, by promoting the Union, the 
great body of Catholics were true to their country, but 
the rebellion had terrified them from every overt act of 
opposition, all was confusion, nothing could be effected 
against Lord Castlereagh, who had one million and a 
half to bribe with, under pretence of compensation, be¬ 
sides, the secret-service money of England was at his 
command, and that was boundless. Had the proposal 
been made two years later, ail the wealth and power of 
England could not have effected the annexation. 

The subject is now ended, posterity will appreciate the 
injuries of Ireland. The only security England has for 
the permanence of the Union, is a radical change in the 
nature and genius of the people; or a total change of 
system in the mode of governing. How blind must those 
Governments be, which suppose that Ireland ever can be 
retained permanently by the coercive system ! Eight 
millions of people, whose lives cannot be precious to them, 
never can be permanently yoked to any other nation, not 
much more physically powerful, and not near so warlike, 
save by a full participation of rights and industry; with 
employment, protection, and any means of subsistence, 
the Irish might he the easiest managed people on the face 
of Europe; naturally loyal, naturally tractable, naturally 
adapted to labour, it is a total ignorance of their character 
abroad, with a system of petty tyranny at home, that 
destroys this people, governing by executions has the very 
>pposite effect from that intended, death is too common 
to have much terrors for a desperate peasantry, hang 
100,000 every year, it would make no sensible diminution 
of the Irish population, and certainly would add nothing 
to the tranquillity of the country; on the contrary, every 
execution increases the number of the dissatisfied, who 
can be contented with the execution of his kindred 1 The 
only guardians of that devoted people, the only persons 

Raid the only match for it he hal ever read was the mayor of Coventry’s 
speech to Queen Elizabeth: “ When the Spanish Armada attacked your 
Majesty , ecod they got the wrong sow by the ear*' The Queen desired 
mein to go home and she would send an answer. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


447 


fcrtio could direct or guide them, are now, by the Union, 
for ever taken away from them; their landlords now reside 
in other countries; no labourers are now employed on 
the old demesnes that supported them What are they to 
subsist upon? An idle population can never cease tc be 
a disturbed one ; and, if it be possible to convince the Eng* 
lish people that the state of [reland must soon influence 
their own condition, much will be effected ; if England 
should be convinced that Ireland has been plundered by 
a British Minister, of the only certain means of ensuring 
her tianquillity (a resident Parliament,) that the plunder 
has been without any beneficial operation to England 
herself, great progress will be made toward some better 
system. Half the time of the Imperial Parliament is 
now occupied upon a subject of which nothing but local 
knowledge can give a competent idea; and it is the opi¬ 
nion of the wisest and most dispassionate people, that now 
reflect upon the state of the connection, that either the 
Union must be rendered closer and more operative for its 
professed objects, interests must be more amalgamated, 
and the nations dovetailed together, or the Union be alto¬ 
gether relinquished, the dilemma is momentous, but the 
alternative is inevitable. 

This digression arises from the circumstances which 
have been mentioned just preceding it. To a true-hearted 
Irishman, it must be a subject of solicitude, but a reflection 
on 1800, never can arise Avithout exciting emotions of 
disgust and feelings of indignation. 

After a long, an ardent, but an ineffective struggle, the 
Anti-Unionists gave way entirely; and but little further 
resistance was offered to any thing. 

During the progress of the Union bill through the com¬ 
mittee, a circumstance took place, which, with reference 
to analagous subjects, is of the utmost legal and constitu¬ 
tional importance. 

Mr. Richard Annesley (afterwards Lord Annesley) was 
called to the chair of the committee, on the motion of Lord 
Castlereagh, and sat as chairman nearly throughout the 
entire discussion. 

Mr. R. Annesley and General Gardner, had been 
returned members for the city of Clogher by the Bishop, 
whose predecessors had exercised that patronage through 


RISE AND FALL 


as 

the votes of four or five of their own domestics, or, perhaps 
of only their steward or chaplain, and in their own hall. 
On this occasion, however, the Bishop’s nomination of Mr. 
Annesley and General Gardner was opposed by Mr. 
Charles Ball and Colonel King, as an experiment, at the 
suggestion of Mr. Plunket. On the election, these can¬ 
didates tendered a number of the resident inhabitants of 
the district as legal constituents of that ancient city, ovei 
which the Bishops had, in despotic times, assumed a 
patronage, not only contrary to the inherent rights of 
franchise, but altogether unconstitutional, it being merely 
a nomination of Members of the Commons by a spiritual 
Lord. The Bishop’s returning officer had, of course, 
rejected all lay interference, and Mr. Annesley and 
General Gardner were returned by five, or six domestics 
of the prelate. 

This election, however, was most vigorously contested 
hy Mr. Ball and Colonel King; they canvassed the vicinity 
informed the landholders of their inherent rights, and of 
the Bishop’s usurpation. A great number appeared, and 
tendered their votes for the new candidates, who, in their 
turn, objected to every voter received for those of the 
Bishop ; and, thus circumstanced, the return came back 
to Parliament. 

The Bishop’s nominees took their seats, as lawful mem¬ 
bers of Parliament; and as such Mr. Annesley was named 
chairman to the committee of the whole House, which 
voted all the details and articles of the Union . Mr. Bali 
and Colonel King, however, petitioned against that return. 
A committee was appointed to decide the question: every 
possible delay was contrived by the Government, and 
every influence was attempted, even over the Members of 
the committee, nothing was too shameful for the arrogance 
of the Chancellor (who took a furious part) and the cor¬ 
ruption of the Secretary. 

YI. After a month of arduous and minute investigation, 
an old document was traced to the Paper Office at the 
Castle, which the Viceroy endeavoured to have suppressed 
by the keeper of the records. On its production, the 
usurpation of the Bishops was proved beyond ail possi¬ 
bility of argument, and Mr. Annesley, through whose 
voice ev uy clause of the Union had been put and carried 


»F THE IRISH NATION. 


449 


was declared by the House a usurper, and his election, 
and the return thereupon, was pronounced null and void. 
By this decision, the whole of the proceedings of.the com¬ 
mittee had been carried on, through the instrumentality 
and functions of a person not de jure a member of Par¬ 
liament at the time he so acted. This point, if it had been 
then vigorously pushed, must have led to most serious and 
deep constitutional questions. 

It was the lex Pari lament aria that, on an election for 
a Member of Parliament, all votes taken before a return¬ 
ing officer not legally qualified as such, were null and 
void.* 

Mr. Charles Ball was excluded from voting against the 
Union the whole time of Mr. Annesley’s so usurping the 
duties of a member, and voting in its favour. Whether 
his acts could be construed to be legal was a point 
rendered useless, by the certainty of the Union being 
effected. 

Mr. Annesley was in his seat in the House Avhen the 
report of the committee was read : the effect was consi¬ 
derable. Mr. Annesley and General Gardner instantly 
rose and left the House, and Mr. Charles Ball and Colonel 
King were as quickly introduced, dressed in the Anti- 
Union uniform, and took their seats in the place of the 
discarded members. A new chairman was substituted 
for Mr. Annesley. 

Another curious instance of palpable corruption remains 
on record. Sir William Gladowe Newcomen, Bart., 
member for the county of Longford, in the course of the 
debate, declared he supported the Union, as lie was not 
instructed to the contrary by his constituents. This 
avowal surprised many, as it was known that the county 
was nearly unanimous against the measure, and that he 
was well acquainted with the fact. However, he voted 
for Lord Castlereagh, and he asserted that conviction 
alone was his guide ; his veracity was doubted, and in a 
few months some of his bribes were published. His wife 
was also created a peeress. 

* It was contended by the constitutional lawyers, that the votes of a 
committee taken by a chairman who was not a meir ber of the House, 
the journals he signed, and the reports he brought ip, were void, and, 
a fortiori. , every act of the committee. 

38* 


150 


*ISE AND FALL 


One oi his bribes has been discovered, registered in the 
Rolls office, a document which it was never supposed 
would be exposed, but which would have been grounds for 
impeachment against every member of Government who 
thus contributed his aid to plunder the public and corrupt 
Parliament. 

The following is a copy, from the Rolls Office o;f 
Ireland: 

By the Lord Lieutenant and General Governor of 
Ireland , 

CORNWALLIS. 

“ Whereas Sir William Gladowe Newcomen, Bart, 
hath by his memorial laid before us, represented that, on 
the 25th day of June, 1785, John, late Earl of Mayo, 
then Lord Viscount Naas, Receiver General of Stamp 
Duties, together with Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., and 
Sir Barry Denny, Bart., both since deceased, as sureties 
for the said John, Earl of Mayo, executed a bond to his 
Majesty, conditioning to pay into the treasury the stamp 
duties received by him ; that the said Earl of Mayo con¬ 
tinued in the said office of Receiver General until the 
30th day of July, 1780, when he resigned the same, at 
which time it is stated that he was indebted to his Majesty 
in the sum of about five thousand pounds, and died on the 
7th of April, 1792; that the said sureties are dead, and 
the said Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., did by his last 
will appoint the memorialist executor of his estate; that 
the memorialist proposed to pay into his Majesty’s Exche¬ 
quer the sum of two thousand pounds, as a composition 
for any money that might be recovered thereon, upon the 
estate being released from any further charge on account 
of the said debt due to his Majesty. And the before- 
mentioned Memorial having been referred to his Majesty’s 
Attorney General , for his opinion what would be j)roper 
to be done in this matter, and the said Attorney General 
having by his report unto us, dated the 20th day of August, 
1800, advised that, under all the circumstances of the case 
the sum of two thousand pounds should be accepted of 
the memorialist on the part of Government,” &c. &c. 

“J. TOLER* 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


451 


By this abstract it now appears, even by the memorial 
of Sir William Gladovve, that he was indebted at least 
five thousand pounds, from the year 1786, to the public 
treasury and Revenue of Ireland ; that, with the interest 
thereon, it amounted in 1800 to ten thousand pounds; 
that Sir William had assets in his hands, as executor, to 
pay that debt; and that, on the Union, when all such ar¬ 
rears must have been paid into the Treasury, the Attorney 
General, under a reference of Lords Cornwallis and 
Castlereagh, was induced to sanction the transaction as 
reported; “viz. under all its circumstances” to forego 
the debt, except two thousand pounds. Every effort was 
made to find if any such sum as two thousand pounds 
was credited to the public, and none such was discovered. 
The fact is, that Lord Naas owed ten thousand pounds, 
consequently Sir W illiam owed twenty thousand ; that he 
never bona fide pa.d to the public one shilling, which, 
with a peerage, the patronage of his county, and the 
pecuniary pickings also received by himself, altogether 
formed a tolerably suong bribe, even for a more qualmish 
Conscience than that of Sir William. 

But all the individual instances of the corrupt influence 
which seduced so ma^y members of the Irish Parliament 
to betray their trusts, and transmit their names to posterity 
as the most fatal enemies of that island where they drew 
their breath, would be a labour of too great an extent for 
a work of this description. But it will suffice to convince 
the British Empire, that the Union between England and 
Ireland was the corrupt work of the very minister who 
was afterwards called over, with his Irish flock to become 
the shepherd of the British nation. 

VII. The few following authenticated examples of 
corrupt seduction by Lords Cornwallis and Castlereagh 
individually , may give some slight idea of the general 
system:— 

Mr. Francis Knox and Mr. Crowe, two Irish barristers, 
were returned to Parliament for the close borough of 
Philipstown, under the patronage of Lord Belvidere. In 
the session of 1799 they violently opposed the Union. Mr. 
Knox said ; “ I am satisfied that in point of commerce, 
England has nothing to give to this country: but, were 
it otherwise, l would not condescend to argue the subject; 


152 


RISE AND FA M, 


for I would not surrender the liberties of my country fot 
the riches of the universe! I cannot find words to express 
the horror I feel at a proposition so extremely degrading, 
it is insulting to entertain it, even for a moment. What! 
shall we deliberate whether this kingdom shall cease to 
exist; whether this land shall be struck from the scale 
of nations; whether its very name is to be erased from 
the map of the world for ever ? Shall it, I say, be a 
question whether we surrender to another separate country 
and to another separate legislature, the lives, liberties, 
and properties of five millions of people, who delegated 
us to defend, but not to destroy the constitution ? It is 
a monstrous proposition, and should be considered, merely 
in order to mingle our disgust and execration with those 
of the people, and then to dash it from us, never to be 
resumed !” Mr. Crowe held similar language. 

The Earl of Belvidere then called a meeting of the 
county of Westmeath, to enter into resolutions against the 
Union ; and his proposed resolutions, in his own hand¬ 
writing, declaratory of his resistance to that measure, are 
here inserted. Mr. Crowe termed its supporters “ flagitious 
culprits,” and boldly declaimed against the unexampled 
profligacy of the Viceroy and his Irish Secretary. It is 
fortunate for history that irrefragable proofs exist of this 
statement, and that Great Britain may peruse the mode 
by which Ireland has been united to her. Every line of 
such documents might well form a ground of prosecution 
or impeachment, for high crimes and misdemeanours, 
against both the Viceroy and the Secretary. 

The Earl of Belvidere and his two friends had expressed 
themselves too strongly against the Union, and were of 
too much importance to be left untempted. The Marquis, 
therefore undertook to manage the Peer, whilst Lord 
Castlereagh engaged to seduce the Commoners. Mr. 
Usher, the Earl’s chaplain, wise man, and adviser, was 
also enlisted to effect the seduction of his patron and of 
his accessories. The negotiation completely succeeded. 

The English nation will scarcely believe the fact, that, 
within a few months, his Lordship with Mr. Knox and 
Mr. Crowe, were literally purchased; and, in four months 
after publishing the resolutions against the Union, new 
resolutions, in favour of the measure, were circulated by 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


453 


his Lordship among his tenantry. As soon as the bribe 
was fixed, as he conceived, the whole of his Lordship’s 
former principles were recanted , and condemned as hasty, 
and against the general opinion of the people. 

Lord Cornwallis had now gained his point, and turned 
round on the apostates, they were disgraced traitors: 
they were now helpless, they durst not again recant. The 
terms had been munificent, nothing required by Lord 
Belvidere had been refused by the Marquis; buf after 
he had made their defection public and irrevocable, he 
gave his Lordship to understand that there was a miscon¬ 
ception as to the terms , which, being matters of detail, 
could be more properly arranged by the Secretary; and 
thus he turned them over to the mercy of Lord Oastle- 
reagh. His Lordship, seeing they were entrapped beyond 
the power of escaping, soon convinced them that he also 
Knew how to despise the instruments he had corrupted. 
Mr. Usher, the chaplain, was to be remunerated for 
soothing the conscience of Lord Belvidere, the clergy are 
seldom reluctant when good bargains are going forward : 
but a general dissatisfaction now arose among all the 
parties. Usher, however, was contented, he got a cure 
of souls for his political guilt, and, after having aided in 
corruption, went to preach purity to his parishioners! 

VIII. The English people would scarcely credit the 
li. ost accurate historian, did not the annexed letter prove 
the whole transaction, and leave them to ruminate upon 
the nefarious system to which they were themselves sub¬ 
ject, under the same Minister. In England, an impeach¬ 
ment would have been the result of this disclosure; but, 
in Ireland, it was the least of Lord Castlereagh’s mal¬ 
practices. 

Mr. Crowds letter , shortly after Lord Belvidere was 
purchased by Lord, Cornwallis. 

October 4th, 1799. 

My Dear Lord, 

This moment yours of the 3d inst. has been delivered 
by the postman. I am heartily concerned that I am 
obliged to differ with your Lordship (for the first time 
duiing a three and twenty years’ friendship) in point of 


454 


RISE IND FALL 


fact: as to what passed between you and Lord Cornwallis 
it has nothing to do with the present question, which is 
simply, “ whether the agreement made by Mr. Knox with 
Lord Castlereagh is to be adhered to or violated.” This 
agreement was two months subsequent to your conversa¬ 
tion with Lord Cornwallis, and you will recollect you had 
two interviews with the Viceroy, the latter of which was, 
by no .means, so flattering as the first, and was very fai 
from holding out splendid expectations, but all prior dis¬ 
cussions are always done a way by a subsequent agreement; 
for otherwise it would be absurd ever to think of making 
one, which would be always open to be departed from bv 
any of the parties, on a suggestion that in a prior con 
versation this thing was said or the other thing was 
offered. An agreement once made, nothing remains but 
to carry it into effect according to its terms as fast as 
possible. The business then comes to this, what was the 
agreement made by Mr. Knox with Lord Castlereagh, 
respecting the only point that has induced your Lordship 
to delay matters, all the rest being confessedly understood, 
namely, “ the vacating Mr. Knox’s seat and mine, in ordei 
to give the return of the two members to Government in 
our places.” 

This particular Mr. Knox stated distinctly and expli 
citly, that Lord Castlereagh, at the outset of the negocia- 
tion, laid it down as a ,iae qua non , that we must vacate 
our seats in the present Parliament, and that he should 
have the nomination of the two new members.” But such 
a distinction as your Lordship conceives o" vacating for 
the question of Union, and in case Government should be 
defeated on that measure, that those two new members 
should vacate, and that you should have a power of no¬ 
minating in their stead for the remainder of the Parliament, 
never in the slightest degree was made by Mr. Kox, nor 
even by your Lordship; but,on the contrary, your Lord- 
ship assented to that part as well as to every other part 
of the treaty with Lord Castlereagh, and from the instant 
you thus gave your assent, a full, complete, and perfect 
agreement took place. Mr. Usher was present at all this, 
and it is his duty to come forward and declare the fact. 

On the 10th of July this negociation commenced, and 
from that period to this, I have been kept in town from 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


455 


my concerns in law, in constant expectation of haring it 
concluded, and now, nearly at the end of three months, 
to have it all upset is very severe. 

As to the engagement that your Lordship describes and 
that your burgesses signed, it is a direct contradiction to 
that part of the agreement it professes to be conformable 
to, and is so much trouble for nothing but what appears 
extraordinary to me, along with all the rest of this extra¬ 
ordinary business is, that your Lordship should prepare 
or get this engagement signed after you were apprised, 
both by Mr. Knox’s letters and mine to you and Mr. 
Usher, that any thing short of the identical paper sent 
down by Mr. Knox, would not answer. I have nothing 
more to add than to request your Lordship will bring 
Mr. Usher up with you directly. 

I am, my dear Lord, 

Tour’s most sincerely, 

ROB. CROWE. 

To the Earl of Belvedere, <§'C., fyc., fyc. 

[The Original of this letter is in the Author’s jwssession.] 

RESOLUTIONS 

In the hand-writing of the Earl of Bel rider e, prep area 
by him for the Freeholders of the County of West¬ 
meath , against a Legislative Union in 1799. His 
Lordship afterwards voted for and supported that 
Measure warmly . 

Resolved, That the free and independent Legislature of 
Ireland having been unequivocally established, every 
measure that tends to encroach on it calls for our im¬ 
plicit disapprobation. 

The depending project of a Union with Great Britain 
the appearance of being merely a transfer of the Parlia¬ 
ment is, in fact, a complete extinction of it; that it is the 
duty of Irishmen of every description to come forward, 
and by all constitutional means to resist a scheme so sub¬ 
versive of the real interest, prosperity and dignity of their 
country. 

That we entertain too high an opinion of the integrity 
of our representatives, to suppose them capable of voting 


156 


RISE AND PALL 


away the rights of the people, had a power of such a na 
ture been ever invested in them. 

[The Original is in the Author’s possession.] 

This transaction helween Lord Cornwallis and Castie- 
reagh, and Lord Belvidere and Messrs. Knox and Crowe, 
ought to be one of the most useful lessons to the British 
nation ; there will be seen, in the sad fate of Ireland, the 
means by which their own liberties may be destroyed. 

Before the third reading of the Bill, when it was about 
to be reported, Mr. Charles Ball, Member for Clogher, 
rose, and, without speaking one word, looked round im¬ 
pressively, every eye was directed to him, he only pointed 
his hand significantly to the bar, and immediately walked 
forth, casting a parting look behind him, and turning his 
eyes to Heaven, as if to invoke vengeance on the enemies 
of his country. His example was contagious. Those 
Anti-Unionists who were in the House immediately fol¬ 
lowed his example, and never returned into that Senate 
which had been the glory, the guardian, and the protec¬ 
tion of their country. There was but one scene more, 
and the curtain was to drop for ever.* 

* One of those singular incidents which, though trivial, occasionally 
produce a great sensation, occurred in the progress of the Bill, on the 
debate respecting the local representation. From the nature of the sub- 
iect and the strong feelings of every party, the slightest incident, the 
i> ost immaterial word, or unimportant action, was construed into an in- 
«. cation of something momentous. Mr. Charles Ball, the new Member for 
t logher, was a most ardent, impetuous, and even furious opponent of a 
Union, on any terms or under any circumstances. He was a very large, 
eager, boisterous, and determined man; he uttered whatever he thought, 
and there was no restraining his sentiments. In the midst of the crowd¬ 
ed coffee-room he declared his astonishment, that whilst hundreds of 
wretched men every day sacrificed their lives in resisting those who 
openly attacked their liberty, there were none who did not at once rid 
their country of the monsters who were betraying it. “ It could be easily 
done,” said he, «* by a few hand-grenades, or shells, thrown from the 
gallery when your ministerial gentlemen are locked up for a division. 

The extravagance of the idea excited general merriment; but then* 
were some who actually conceived the practicability of the scheme. Mi 
Ball, with affected gravity, added, that he had heard such a plan was 
intended; an 1 this only increased the previous merriment. The House 
presently commenced its sitting, and Mr. Secretary Cooke had taken the 
chair of the Committee, when suddenly a voice like thunder burst from 
the gallery, which was crowded to excess; “ Now ” (roared the Stentor), 
'* now let the bloodiest assassin take the chair!—let the bloodiest assassin 
bake the chair !” 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


45 / 


The day of extinguishing the liberties of Ireland had 
now arrived, and the sun took his last view of indepen 
dent Ireland, he rose no more over a proud and prosperous 
nation, she was now condemned, by the British Minister, 
to renounce her rank amongst the States of Europe, she 
was sentenced to cancel her constitution, to disband her 
Commons, and disfranchise her nobility, to proclaim her 
incapacity, and register her corruption in the records of 
the empire. On this fatal event, some, whose honesty the 

Aiiy attempt at description of the scene would be unavailing, the 
shells and hand-grenades of Mr. Ball presented themselves to every 
man’s imagination. All was terror and confusion; many pressed towards 
the doors, but the door-keepers had fled, and turned the keys to prevent 
the escape of the culprit. A few hats fell by accident from the galle¬ 
ries, which were in a state of tumult. These appeared like bomb¬ 
shells to the terrified Members; pocket-pistols and swords were upon 
the point of being produced; every man seemed to expect the bloodv 
assassins to rush in hundreds from the galleries. No explosion, how 
ever, took place; no assassins descended; and a scuffle in the gallery 
was succeeded by an exclamation, “ We have secured him ! We have 
secured him'” which restored some confidence to the senators. The ser¬ 
jeant-at-arms now ascended, sword in hand, and was followed by many 
>f the Members, whose courage hal been quiescent till there was a 
iertaimy of no danger. Mr. Denis Brown, as a forlorn hope, was the 
irst to mount the gallery. After a valiant resistance, an Herculean gen- 
leman was forced down into the body of the House, by a hundred 
lands. An soon as he was effectually secured, all the Members were 
most courageous; some pommelled, some kicked mm, and at length he 
was thrown flat upon the floo-. and firmly pinioned. The whole power 
o; Parliament, however, could not protect them from his eloquence; and 
most powerfully did he use his tongue. The gigantic appearance of the 
•nan struck every body with awe, and none but the lawyers had the least 
conception that he was a Mr. Sinclair, one of the most quiet and well- 
behaved barristers of the whole profession. He was a respectable, in¬ 
dependent, and idle member of the Irish Bar, but an enthusiast against a 
Union. He had dined with a party of the same opinions at the house 
9i' a friend who was undoubtedly a madman, but whose excellent wine 
and wild conversation had elevated Mr. Sinclair so very far above all 
dread, that he declared h would himself, that night, in spite of all the 
traitors, make a speech in le House, and give them his full opinion of 
the only measure that should be taken against them. He accordingly 
repaired to the gallery, and, on seeing the Secretary take the chair, he 
could no longer contain himself, and attempted to leap down among the 
Members; but being restrained by some friends who were with him, he 
determined to make his speech, and commenced with the most appalling 
expression of what he conceived should be the fate of the Unionists. 
He was committed to Newgate by the House, and remained there till 
the session ended 

sy 



458 


RISE AND FALL 


tempter could not destroy, some, whose honour he durst 
not assail, and many who could not control the useless 
language of indignation, prudently withdrew from a scene 
where they would have witnessed only the downfall of 
their country. Every precaution was taken by Lord 
Clare for the security, at least, of his own person. The 
Houses of Parliament were closely invested by the inili 
tary no demonstration of popular feeling was permitted, 
a British regiment, near the entrance, patrolled through 
the Ionic colonades, the chaste architecture of that classic 
structure seemed as a monument to the falling Irish, to 
remind them of what they had been, and to tell them what 
they were. It was a heart-rending .sight to those who 
loved their country, it was a sting- to those who sold it, 
and to those who purchased it, a victory, but to none has 
it been a triumph. Thirty-three years of miserable ex¬ 
perience should now convince the British people that 
they have gained neither strength, nor affection, nor 
tranquillity, by their acquisition ; and that if population 
be the “ wealth of nations,” Ireland is getting by far too 
rich to be governed much longer as a pauper. 

The British people knew not the true history of the 
Union, that the brilliant promises, the predictions of 
rapid prosperity, and “consolidating resources,”* were but 
chimerical. Whilst the finest principles of the constitution 
were sapped to effect the measure, England, by the sub¬ 
jugation of her sister kingdom, gained only an accumu¬ 
lation of debt, an accession of venality to her Parliament, 
an embarrassment in her councils, and a prospective dan¬ 
ger to the integrity of the empire. The name of Union 
has been acquired, but the attainment of the substance 
has been removed farther than ever. 

The Commons House of Parliament, on the last evening 
afforded the most melancholy example of a fine inde¬ 
pendent people, betrayed, divided, sold, and, as a State, 
annihilated. British clerks and officers were smuggled 
into her Parliament to vote away the constitution of a 
country to which they were strangers, and in which they 
had neither interest nor connection. They were employer 

* “ Consolidating' the strength and resources of the Empire ” wi 
Lord Castlereagh’s fundamental argument on proposing that measure. 
Ult he Jived long enough to see that it had the very contrary operation. 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


45H 


(o cancel the royal charter of the Irish nation, guaranteed 
by the British Government, sanctioned by the British 
legislature, and unequivocally confirmed by the words, 
the signature, and the great seal of their monarch. 

The situation of the Speaker, on that night, was of the 
most distressing nature; a sincere and ardent enemy of 
the measure, he headed its opponents; he r( sisted it with 
all the power of his mind, the resources of his experience, 
his influence and his eloquence. 

It was, however, through his voice that it was to be pro¬ 
claimed and consummated. His only alternative (resig¬ 
nation) would have been unavailing, and could have added 
nothing to his character. His expressive countenance, 
bespoke the inquietude of his feeling; solicitude was per¬ 
ceptible in every glance, and his embarrassment was 
obvious in every word he uttered. 

The galleries were full, but the change was lamentable, 
they were no longer crowded with those who had been 
accustomed to witness the eloquence and to animate the 
debates of that devoted assembly. A monotonous and 
melancholy murmur ran through the benches, scarcely a 
word was exchanged amongst the members, nobody 
seemed at ease, no cheerfulness was apparent, and the 
ordinary business, for a short time, proceeded in the usual 
manner. 

At length the expected moment arrived, the order of 
the da)?- for the third reading of the Bill, for a “ Legislative 
Union between Great Britain and Ireland,” was moved 
by Lord Castlereagh, unvaried, tame, coldblooded, the 
words seemed frozen as they issued from his lips; and, as 
if a simple citizen of the world, he seemed to have no 
sensation on the subject. 

At that moment he had no country, no god but his 
ambition ; he made his motion, and resumed his seat, with 
die utmost composure and indifference. 

Confused murmurs again ran through the House, it was 
visibly affected, every character, in a moment, seemed in¬ 
voluntarily rushing to its index, some pale, some flushed, 
some agitated; there were few countenances to which the 
heart did not despatch some messenger. Several Mem¬ 
bers withdrew before the question could be repeated, am 
an awful momentary silence succeeded their departure 


460 


RISE AND PALI 


The Speaker rose slowly from that chai: which had been 
the proud source of his honours and of his high character; 
for a moment he resumed his seat, but the strength of his 
mind sustained him in his duty, though his struggle was 
apparent. With that dignity which never failed to signalize 
his official actions, he held up the Bill for a moment in 
silence; he looked steadily around him on the last agony 
of the expiring Parliament. He at length repeated, in an 
emphatic tone, “ as many as are of opinion that this bill 
do pass, say aye.” The affirmative was languid but in¬ 
disputable, another momentary pause ensued, again his 
bps seemed to decline their office: at length, with an eye 
averted from the object which he hated, he proclaimed, 
with a subdued voice, “ the ayes have it” The fatal 
sentence was now pronounced, for an instant he stood 
statue-like; then indignantly, and with disgust, flung the 
Bill upon the table, and sunk into his chair with an ex¬ 
hausted spirit. An independent country was thus de¬ 
graded into a province, Ireland, as a nation, was extin 
a in shed. 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


461 


ORIGINAL RED LIST, 

Or the Members who voted against the Union in 1799, a id 
1800, with observations. 


Those Names with a * affixed to tnem, are County Members, 
those with a f. City Members; and those with a §, Borough Members; 
those in Italics changed sides, and got either Money or Offices 


1. * Honorable A. Acheson 

2. * William C. Alcock 

3. * Mervyn Archdall 

4. § W. H. Armstrong. . 

5. * Sir Richard Butler 
43.* John Bagwell . 

7-§ Peter Burrowes 

5. 5 John Bagwell , Jun. 
#.f John Ball . • . . 

10. j Charles Ball 

11. f Sir Jonah Barrington . 

12. § Charles Bushe. , 

13. f John C. Beresford . 


14 Arthur Brown 


15. § 

16. * 


William Blakeney 
William Burton 


OBSERVATIONS 

Son to Lord Gosford. 

County Wexford. 

County Fermanagh 

Refused all terms from Government 

Changed sides. See Black List. 

Changed sides twice. See Black List. 

Now Judge of the Insolvent Court; a stea 
dy Anti-Unionist. 

Changed sides. See Black List. 

Member for Drogheda —incorruptible 

Brother to the preceding. 

King’s Counsel—Judge of the Admiralty—* 
refused all terms. 

Afterwards Solicitor General, and Chief Jus- 
tice of Ireland—incorruptible. 

Seceded from Mr. Ponsonbyin 1799, on his 
declaration of independence. That seces* 
sion was fatal to Ireland. 

Member for the University, changed sides 
in 1800; was appointed Prime Serjeant 
by Lord C&stlereagh, through Mr. Cooke 
—of all others the most open and palpa* 
ble case. See Black List. 

A Pensioner , but opposed Government. 

Sold his Borough, Carlow, to a Unionist 
(Lord Tullamore,) but remained staunch 
himself. 


17. * 

18. § 

19. § 

20. f 


H. Y. Brooke. 
Blayney Balfour 
David Babbington. 
Hon. James Butler 


Connected with Lord Belmore. 

(Now Marquis of Ormonde) voted in 1800 
against a Union , but with Government 
on Lord Corry’s motion. 

El.* Col J. Maxwell Barry, (Now Lord Farnham) nephew to the Speaker 

39* 


4G2 


RISE AND FALL 


OBSERVATIONS. 


22. § William Bagwell 

23. * Viscount Corry 

24. f Robert Crowe 

25. * Lord Clements 

26. * Lord Cole 


Changed sides twice, concluded as a Union 
ist. See Black List. 

(Now Lord Belmore) dismissed from his re 
giment by Lord Cornwallis—a zealous 
leader of the Opposition. 

. A Barrister, bribed by Lord Castlereagh 
See his Letter to Lord Belvidere. 

. (Now Lord Leitrim ) 

. (Now Lord Enniskillen) unfortunately dis¬ 
sented from Mr. Ponsonby’s Motion for a 
declaration of independence in 1799, 
whereby the Union was revived and car• 


27. § Hon. Lowry Cole 

28. * R. Shapland Carew. 

29. f Hon. A. Creighton 

30. f Hon. J. Creighton . 

31. * Joseph Edward Cooper 

32. f James Cane . . 

33. * Lord Caulfield . . 

34. f Henry Coddington. 

35. § George Crookshank 

36. * Dennis B. Daly 


ried. 

A General; brother to Lord Cole 

Changed sides, and became a Unionist 
See Black List. 

Changed sides. See Black List 

Changed sides. See Black List. 

(Now Earl Charlemont) son to Earl Charle- 
mont, a principal Leader of the Opposition 

A son of the Judge of the Common Pleas 

Brother-in-law to Mr. Ponsonby; a most 
active Anti-Unionist. 


37. f Noah Dal way. 

38. * Richard Dawson. 

39. * Arthur Dawson . Formerly a Banker, father to the late Under¬ 

secretary. 

40. * Francis Dobbs . . Famous for his Doctrine on the Millennium; 

an enthusiastic Anti-Unionist. 

41 -f John Egan . . . King’s Council, Chairman of Kilmainham* 

offered a Judge’s seat, but could not be 
purchased, though far from rich. 

42. R. L. Edgeworth. 

43. f George Evans. 

44. * Sir John Freke, Bart., (Now Lord Carberry.) 

45. * Frederick Falkiner . Though a distressed person, could not be 

purchased. 

I6.§ Rt. Hon.J Fitzgerald, Prime Sergeant ol Ireland; could not be 
bought, and was dismissed from his high 
office by Lord Cornwallis; father to Mr. 
Vesey Fitzgerald. 

47 * William C. Fortescue, One of the three who inconsiderately oppo- 
(Poisoned by accident.) sed Mr. Ponsonby, and thereby carriea 
the Union. 

48* Rt Hon. John Foster Speaker; the chief of the Opposition through¬ 
out the whole contest 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


463 


OBSERVATIONS 

49/ Hon. Thomas Foster 

50.* Sir T. Fetherston,Bart Changed sides. See Black List. 

51* Arthur French . Unfortunately coincided with Mr.Fottescue 

in 1799, against Mr. Ponsonby. 

52. § Chichester Fortescue . King at Arms; brought over in 1800, by 

Lord Castlereagh; voted both sides; end¬ 
ed a Unionist. 

53. § William Gore . . Bought by Lord Castlereagh in 1800. 

54. § Hamilton Georges. A distressed man, but could not be purcha* 

sed; father-in-law to Secretary Cooke 

55. § Rt. Hon. H. Grattan. 

56. § Thomas Goold . . . Now Seijeant, brought into Parliament by 

the Anti-Unionists. 

57. f Hans Hamilton . . Member for Dublin County. 

58. f Edward Hardman . City of Drogheda; the Speaker’s friend. 

59. § Francis Hardy . . Author of the Life of Charlemont; brother* 

in-law to the Bishop of Down 

60. § Sir Joseph Hoare. 

61. * William Hoare Hume, Wicklow County. 

62. § Edward Hoare . . Though very old, and stone blind, attended 

all the debates, and sat up all the nights 
of debate. 

63. § Bartholomew Hoare . King’s Counsel. 

64. § Alexander Hamilton King’s Counsel; son to the Baron. 

65. § Hon. A. C. Hamilton. 

66. § Sk F. Hopkins, Bart. Prevailed on to take money to vacate , in 

1800, and let in a Unionist. 

67. f H. Irwin. 

68. * Gilbert King 

69. j Charles King. 

70. * Hon. Robert King. 

71. * Lord Kingsborough (Now Earl Kingston.) 

72. Hon. George Knox Brother to Lord Northland; lukewarm. 

73. f Francis Knox Vacated his seat for Lord Castlereagh See 

Mr. Crowe’s Letter. 

74. * Rt. Hon. Henry King 

75. f Major King . . . He opened the Bishop ol CloghePs Bo¬ 

rough in 1800 

76. § Gustavus Lambert * Brother to Countess Talbot 

77 . * David Latouche, jun A Banker 

7S.§ Robert Latouche . . Ditto. 

79. § John Latouche, sen. Ditto. 

80. § John Latouche, junr. Ditto. 

81. * Charles Powell Leslie 

82. * Edward Lee . Member for the County of Waterford 

zealous. 

83. f Sir Thomas Lighton, Bt A Banker 

84. * Lord Maxwell . . . Died Lord Famham 

85. * Alexander Montgomery 


464 


RISE AND PALL 


OBSERVATIONS. 


86.§ Sir J. M'Cartney, Bart. Much distressed, but could not be bribed ; 

nephew, by affinity to the Speaker. 

§ William TTiomasMansel, Actuary purchased by Lord Castlereagh. 

. Changed sides on Lord Corry’s Motion. 
See Debates. 


87 _ 

88.§ Stephen Moore 


89. 

90. 

91. 

92 

93 

94 


.§ John Moore. 
Arthur Moore , 


* Lord Mathew . 
,§ Thomas Mahon. 
§ John Metge 
§ Richard Neville 


Now Judge of the Common Fleas; a 
staunch Anti-Unionist. 

(Now Earl Llandaff) Tipperary County. 


95.§ Thomas Newenham 


97. 

98. 

99. 
100, 
101 
102 . 
103. 

104 


105. 

106. 

107. 

108. 

109. 

110 . 
Ill, 

112 

113 

114 

115 


Charles O’Hara 
Sir Edward O'Brien 
§ Col. Hugh O’Donnel 


Brother to the Baron of the Exchequer. 

Had been a dismissed treasury officer; 
sold his vote to be reinstated; changed 
sides. See Black List. 

The Author of various Works on Ireland; 

one of the steadiest Anti-Unionists. 

Sligo County. 

Clare County. 

A most ardent Anti-Unionist; dismissed 
from his regiment of Mayo militia 
§ James Moore O’Donnel,Killed by Mr. Bingham in a duel. 

§ Hon. W. O’Callaghan, Brother to Lord Lismore. 

Henry Osborn . . Could not be bribed; his brother was. 

* Right Hon. Geo. Ogle, Wexford County. 

§ Joseph Preston An eccentric character could not be pur¬ 

chased. 

* John Preston Oi Bell inter, was purchased by a title 

(Lord Tara,) and his brother, a Parson, 
got a living of <£700 a-year. 

* Rt. Hon. Sir J Parnell,Chancellor of the Exchequer, dismissed by 
Lord Castlereagh; incorruptible. 

§ Henry Parnell.* 

§ W. C. Plunket . Now Lord Plunket. See his able speech. 

* Right Hon. W. B. Pon¬ 
sonby . . . Afterwards Lord Ponsonby. 

,§ J. B. Ponsonby . Afterwards Lord Ponsonby. 

Major W. Ponsonby . A General, killed at Waterloo. 

* Rt. Hon. G. Ponsonby, Afterwards Lord Chancellor; died of apo- 
plexy. 

* Sir Laurence Parsons, King’s County; now Earl of Rosse ; made 
a remarkably fine speech. 

Nephew to the Baron of the Exchequer. 
Changed sides. 

County W estmeath; seduced by Govern¬ 
ment, and changed sides in 1800 See 
Black List. 

* Sir John Parnell was one of the ablest supporters of Government of 
his day His son has taken assiduously a more extensive and deeper 
field of business in finance, but in any other point, public or private, has 
no advantage over his father 


§ Richard Power 

* Abal Ram . . 

* Gustav us Rochfort 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


4?5 


OBSERVATIONS. 


lib \ 'ohn S. Rochfort Nephew to the Speaker. 
11 / Sir Wm. Richardson 


118. § l ohn Reihj . 

119. William E. Reily 

120. § Charles Ruxton. 

121. § VVilliam P. Ruxton. 

122. * Clotworthy Rowley 
123.5 William Rowley . 
124.§ J. Rowley . 


Changed sides. See Black List 


Changed sides. See Black List. 
Changed sides. See Ditto. 
Changed sides See Ditto 


125. * Francis Saunderson. 

126. * William Smyth Westmeath 

127. * James Stewart. 

128.5 Hon. W. J. Skeffington. 

*29.* Francis Savage. 
i30.§ Francis Synge. 
i.’l.§ Henry Stewart. 

13 2.| Sir R. St. George, Bart. 

13 3.§ Hon. Benj. Stratford. Now Lord Aldborough; gained by Lord 

Castlereagh; changed sides. See Black 
List. 


134. * Nathaniel Sneyd. 

135. * Thomas Stannus Changed sides. Lord Portarlington’s Mem¬ 

ber. See Black List. 

136. § Robert Shaw . . A Banker. 

137. § Rt. Hon. Wm. Saurin, Afterwards Attorney General; a steady 

but calm Anti-Unionist. 

128.£ William Tighe. 

139.5 Henry Tighe. 

140. § John Taylor. 

141. § Thomas Townshend. 

142. * Hon. Richard Trench, Voted against the Union in 1799; was 

gained by Lord Castlereagh, whose rela¬ 
tive he married, and voted for it in 1800 
was created an Earl, and made an Am¬ 
bassador to Holland; one of the Vienna 
Carvers; and a Dutch Marquess. 

143. * Hon. R. Taylor. 

144.5 Charles Vereker (Now Lord Gort) City Limerick 
145-§ O wen Wynne. 

146. * John Waller. 

147. § E. D. Wilson. 

148 5 Thomas Whaley First voted against the Union ; purchasea 

by Lord Castlereagh; he was Lord 
Clare’s brother-in-law. See Black List. 


14ft * Nicholas Westby. 

15C * John Wolfe . Member for the County Wicklow; Colo¬ 
nel of the Kildare Militia, refused to 
vote for Government, and was cashier¬ 
ed ; could not be purchased. 


466 


RISE AND PALL 


By the Red and Black Lists (published at the time, the originals belt 3 
now in the Author's possession) it is evident , beyond all contradiction, 
that of those who had, in 1799, successfully opposed the Union, or had 
declared against it, Lord Castlereagh, palpably purchased twenty-jive 
before the second discussion in 1800, which made a difference of fifty 
votes in favour of government; and it is therefore equally evident, that, 
by the public and actual bribery of those twenty-five members, and not 
by any change of opinion in the country, or any fair or honest majority, 
Mr. Pitt and his instruments carried the Union in the Commons House oi 
Parliament; and it is proper the English nation should know accurately 
how they have acquired the incumbrance of Ireland in its present form, 
and what little importance was set on every principle of the British Con¬ 
stitution, in the mind of the same Minister whom they immediately after¬ 
wards entrusted with their own .liberties, their money, and their national 
reputation—every one of which was more or less .sacrificed, or squandered, 
during his administration in England, and his negociations at Vienna. 

The observations annexed to the names in these Lists were, at the 
lime, either in actual proof, or sufficiently notorious to have been printed 
in various documents at that epoch. As to the House of Lords, the ser¬ 
vile—almost miraculous—submission with which they surrendered their 
hereditary prerogatives, honours, rights, and dignities, into the hands of 
the Lords Clare and Castlereagh, is a subject unprecedented. But this 
oemg announced for discussion by the Imperial Parliament, in the ensu¬ 
ing session, through the interference of Lord Rossmore, &c. &c., no list 
ol the Lords is here given, in order not to anticipate that parliamentary 
stricture, which will be, no doubt, more potent and elucidating than any 
which could with propriety be made in any other place than in that au¬ 
gust assembly. As the capitulation was disgusting the discussion must 
be severe. 


or THE IRISH NATION. 


467 


ORIGINAL BLACK LIST. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

1 R Aldridge . An English Clerk in the Secretary’s office; uo 
connection with Ireland. 

1. Henry Alexander . Chairman of Ways and Means; cousin of Lord 
Caledon; his brother made a Bishop; himself 
Colonial Secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, 
i. Richard Archdall . Commissioner of the Board of Works. 

4. William Bailey . Commissioner of Ditto. 

5. Rt. Hon. J. Beresford,First Commissioner of Revenue; brother-in-law 

to Lord Clare. 

i. J. Beresford, jun Then Purse-bearer to Lord Clare, afterwards a 
Parson, and now Lord Decies. 

7. Marcus Beresford . A Colonel in the Army, son to the Bishop, Lord 

Clare’s nephew. 

8. J. Bingham * . Created a Peer; got <£8000 for two seats; and 

c£ 15,000 compensation for Tuam. This gen¬ 
tleman first offered himself for sale to the 
Anti-Unionists; Lord Clanmorris. 

9. Joseph H. Blake . Created a Peer —Lord Wallscourt, &c. 

10. Sir J. G. Blackwood ,Created a Peer —Lord Dufierin. 

II Sir John Blaquiere, Numerous Offices and Pensions, and created a 
Peer—Lord De Blaquiere. 

12. Anthony Botet . Appointed Commissioner of the Barrack Board, 

<£500 a-year. * 

13 . Colonel Burton Brother to Lord Conyngham; a Colonel in the 

Army. 

14. Sir Richard Butler y Purchased and changed sides; voted against 

the Union in 1799, and for it in 1800. Cash. 

15 . Lord Boyle . Son to Lord Shannon; they got an immensi 

sum of money for their seats and Boroughs 
at <£15,000 each Borough. 

16. Rt. Hon. D. Brown, Brother to Lord Sligo. 

17. Stewart Bruce . Gentleman Usher at Dublin Castle; now a 

Baronet. 

18 . George Burdet Commissioner of a Public Board, <£500 per 

annum. 

19. George Bunbury Ditto. 

* The Author of this work was deputed to learn from Mr. Bingham 
what his expectations from Government for his seats were; he proposed 
to take from the Opposition <£8000 for his two seats for Tuam, and 
oppose the Union. Government afterwards added a Peerage and 
r£l5,000 for the Borough. 


468 


20 Arthur Brown 


21. - Bagwell , sen 

22 . - Bagwell , jwn. 

23. William Bagwell 

24. Lord Castlereagh 

25. George Cavendish 

26 Sir H. Cavendish 

27. Sir R. Chinnery . 
2 *3. James Cane . 

29. Thomas Casey 

30. Colonel C. Cope 

31. General Cradock 

32. James Crosby 

33. Edward Cooke 

34. Charles H. Coote 


35 Rt. Hon. I. Corry 

36 Sir J. Cotter . . . 

37 Richard Cotter . . 

38 Hon. H. Creighton j 
39. Hon. J. Creighton j 

40 W. A. Crosbie . . 

41 James Cuffe . 

42 General Dunne 


43 William Elliot 

44 General Eustace 


RISE AND FALL 


OBSERVATIONS 

Changed sides and principles , and was appoint¬ 
ed Serjeant; in 1799 opposed the Union,and 
supported it in 1800; he was Senior Fellow 
of Dublin University; lost his seat the ensu¬ 
ing election, and died. 

Changed twice; got half the patronage of Tip¬ 
perary; his son a Dean, &c. &c. 

Ditto, got the Tipperary Regiment, &c 

His brother. 

The Irish Minister. 

Secretary to the Treasury during pleasure; son 
to Sir Henry. 

Receiver General during pleasure; deeply in¬ 
debted to the Crown. 

Placed in office after the Union 

Renegaded, and got a pension. 

A Commission of Bankrupts under Lord Clare; 
made a City Magistrate. 

Renegaded; got a Regiment, and the patronage 
of his county 

Returned by Government; much military rank; 
now Lord Howden 

A regiment and the patronage of Kerry, jointly; 
seconded the Address. 

Under Secretary at the Castle. 

Obtained a Regiment (which was taken from 
Colonel Wharburton) patronage of Queen’s 
County, and a Peerage, (Lord Castlecoote) 
and d£7,500 in cash for his interest at the 
Borough of Maryborough, in which, in fact, it 
was proved before the Commissioners that 
the Author of this work had more interest 
than his Lordship. 

Appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, on dis¬ 
missal of Sir John Parnell. 

Privately brought over by cash. 


Renegaded (see Red List) privately purchased. 

Comptroller to the Lord Lieutenant’s House- 
hold. 

Natural son to Mr. Cuffe of the Board of Works, 
his father created Lord Tyrawly. 

Returned for Maryborough by the united influ¬ 
ence of Lord Castlecoote and Government, to 
keep out Mr. Ba^ington; gained the election 
by only one. 

Secretary at the Castle 

A Regiment 


OP THE IRISH NATION. 


469 


49. Luke Fox 

50. William Fortescue 


OBSERVATIONS. 

45. I/ml C. Fitzgerald, Duke of Leinster’s brother; a lension and a 
Peerage; a Sea Officer of no repute. 

46 Rt. Hon. W. Fitzgerald. 

47. Sir C. Fortescue Renegaded (see Red List) Officer, King at Arms. 

48. A Fergusson Got a place at the Barrack Board, <-£500 a year, 

and a Baronetcy. 

Appointed Judge of Common Pleas; nephew 
by marriage to Lord Ely. 

Got a secret Pension, out of a fund (<£3,000 a 
year) entrusted by Parliament to the Irish 
Government, solely to reward Mr. Reynolds, 
Cope, &c. &c., and those who informed 
against rebels. 

J. Galbraith . Lord Abercom’s Attorney; got a Baronetage 
Henry D. Grady* First Counsel to the Commissioners. 

Richard Hare Put two members into Parliament, and was 
created Lord Ennismore for their votes 
William Hare . . His son. 

Col. B. Henniker . A regiment, and paid £3,500 foi his Scat by 
the Commissioners of Compensation 
Peter Holmes A Commissioner of Stamps. 

George Hatton . . Appointed Commissioner of Stamps 

Hon. J. Hutchinson, A General—Lord Hutchinson. 


51. 

52. 
53 

54. 

55. 

56. 

57. 

58. 

59. 

60. 


II. 

62, 

63. 

64. 

65. 

66 . 

67. 

68 . 


Hugh Howard Lord Wicklow’s brother, made Postmaster Gen¬ 
eral 

Wm. Handcock An extraordinary instance; he made and sang 
(Athlone) songs against the Union in 1799, ata public 

dinner of the Opposition, and made and sang 
songs for it in 1800; he got a Peerage. 

John Hobson . Appointed Storekeeper at the Castle Ordnance. 

Col. G. Jackson A Regiment. 

Denham Jephson Master of Horse to the Lord Lieutenant. 

Hon. G. Jocelyn . Promotion in the Army, and his brother conse¬ 
crated Bishop of Lismore. 

Wdliam Jones. 

Theophilus Jones Collector of Dublin 

Major Gen. Jackson, A Regiment. 

William Johnson Returned to Parliament by Lord Castlereagh, aa 
he himself declared, “ to put an end to it;* 
appointed a Judge since. 

Seceded from his patron, Lord Downshire, and 
was appointed a Judge 


69. Robert Johnson. 


* This gentleman the Author knew to be entirely indisposed to a 
Union, but peculiar circumstances prevented him imperatively but hon¬ 
ourably from following his own impression. The Author communi¬ 
cated to Mr. George Ponsonby these causes, as he thought it but justice 
to Mr. Grady, who, on some occasions, did not conceal his sen imentei 
and acted fairly. 


40 





470 


RISE AND FALL. 


OBSERVATIONS. 


~0 John Keane 
71. James Kearny 

' 2 . Henry Kemmis . 
73. William Knot . 


A Renegade; got a Pension; See Red List 
Returned by Lord Clifton being his Attorney 
got an office. 

Son to the Crown Solicitor. 

Appointed a Commissioner of Appeals <£800 a 


4. Andrew Knox. 

“5. Colonel Keatinge. 
6 Right Hon. Sir H. 
Langrishe . 


77. T Lingray, sen. 

78. T. Lindsay, jun. 

79. J. Longfield . 

80. Capt. J. Longfield 

81. Lord Loftus. 


82. General Lake 


year. 


A Commissioner ol the Revenue, received 
£15.000 cash for his patronage at Knocto- 
pher. 

Commissioner oi Stamps, paid £ 1,500 for hie 
patronage. 

Usher at the Castle, paid <£1,500 for his pat 
ronage. 

Created a Peer; Lord Longueville. 

. Appointed to the office of Ship Entries of Dub¬ 
lin taken from Sir Jonah Barrington. 

Son to Lord Ely, 'Postmaster General; got 
£30,000 for their Boroughs, and created an 
English Marquis. 

. An Englishman (no connection with Ireland;) 
returned by Lord Castlereagh, solely to vote 
for the Union. 


83. Right. Hon. David 

Latouche. 

84. General Loftus . . A General; got a Regiment; cousin to Lord 

Ely. 

85. Francis M‘Namara, Cash, and a private Pension, paid by Lord Cas¬ 

tlereagh. 

86. Ross Mahon Several appointments and places by Govern¬ 

ment. 

87. Richard Martin . Commissioner of Stamps. 

88 . Right Hon. Monk 

Mason . . A Commissioner of Revenue. 

89. H. D. Massy . . Received £4,000 cash. 

90. Thomas Mahon. 

91. A E. M'Naghten . Appointed a Lord of the Treasury, &c 

92. Stephen Moore A Postmaster at will. 

93. N. M. Moore. 

94. Right Hon. Lodge 

Morris . . Created a Peer. 

95. Sir R. Musgrave Appointed Receiver of the Customs £ 1,200 a 

year. 

96. James M‘Cleland A Barrister—appointed Solicitor General and 

then a Baron of the Exchequer. 

97 Col C M‘Donnel. Commissioner of Imprest Accounts, £ 5(7 < p*»i 
annum 


OF THE IRISH NATION. 


471 


OBSERVATIONS. 


98. Richard Magenness, Commissioner of Imprest Accounts ; £500 
per annum. 

A Pensioner at will. 

Bought (see Memoir ante,) and a Peerage 
for his wife 

Renegaded ; reinstated as Teller of the 
Exchequer. 

A Regiment, and Lord of the Treasury. 

A Barrister; appointed a Judge of the 
King’s Bench. 

Appointed First Council Commissioner. 
Master of the Ordinance. 

A Regiment; killed at New Orleans. 

A Peerage—Lord D unalley. 


99 

100 . 

101 

102 

103. 


Thomas Nesbit 
Sir IV. G. Newcomen, 
Bart. 

Richard Neville 

William Odell 
Charles Osborne 


104. 

105 

100 

107. 

108. 
109. 


C. M. Ormsby 
Adml. Pakenham 
Col. Pakenham 
II. S. Prittie 
R. Pennefather. 
T. Prendergast 


110. Sir Richard Quin 

111. Sir Boyle Roche 

112. R. Rutledge. 

113. lion. C. Rowley 


. An office in the Court of Chancery, £500 a 
year; his brother Crown Solicitor. 

. A Peerage. 

. Gentleman Usher at the Castle. 


Renegaded, and appointed to office by Lord 
Caotlereagh. 

114. lion. II. Skeffington, Clerk of the Paper Office of the Castle, 

and £7,500 for his patronage. 

ABai rister,appo.nted a Baron <>r Exchequer 
Created a Peer; Lord Mount Sandford. 
Appointed Commissioner of Accounts. 


115. 

110 

117. 

118 

119. 


William Smith 
II. M. Sandford 
Edmund Slanley 
John Staples. 
John Stewart 


. Appointed Attorney General, and created 
a Baronet. 


120. John Stratton 

121. Hon. B. Stratford 

122. Hon. J. Stratford 

123. Richard Sharkey 

124. Thomas Stannus 

125. J. Savage. 

126. Rt. Hon. J. Toler 


127 Frederick Trench 

128. Hon. R. Trench 

129. Charles Trench 


. Renegaded to get £7.500. his half of the 
compensation for Baltinglass 

.Paymaster of Foreign Forces, £1,300 a- 
year, and £7,500 for Baltinglass. 

. An ob cure Barrister} appointed a County 
Judge. 

. Renegaded. 

. Attorney Generall;liis wife,an old woman, 
created a Peeress; himself made Chief 
Justice, and a Peer. 

. Appointed a Commissioner of the Board 
of Works. 

. A Barrister; created a Peer, and made an 
Ambassador. See Red List. 

. His brother ; appointed Commissioner of 
InlandNavigation—anew office created 
by Lord Cornwallis, for rewards. 



472 RISE AND FALL OF THE IRISH NATION. 


OBSERVATIONS 

130. Richard Talbot. 

131. P. Tottenham Compensation for patronage; cousin, and polits 

cally connected with Lord Ely. 

1 32. Lord Tyrone . 104 offices in the gift of his family; proposed 

the Union in Parliament, by a speech written 
in the crown of his hat. 

133. Chas. Tottenham, In office. 

134 - Townsend A Commissioner. 

135 Robert Tighe . . Commissioner of Barracks. 

136 Robert Uniack . A Commissioner; connected with Lord Clare. 

137 James Verner . Called the Prince of Orange. 

138 J. 0. Vandeleur Commissioner of the Revenue; his brother 8 

Judge. 

139 Colonel Wemyss . Collector of Kilkenny. 

140 Her.iy Westenraw, Father of Lord Rossmore, who is of the ratf 

reverse of his father’s politics 


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